Keyblade Potter, At Your Service!
by Traban16
Summary: After Voldemort's defeat at Godric's Hollow, Harry is taken FAR away from Voldemort and Death Eater reach. Years later, Harry must return to his world. But it's bad when soon after it's GONE! Now Harry and others will fight to get back their worlds!
1. Forgotten Departure

_**Okay, if you've taken a look at my page lately, then you've seen that this story was gonna be done for a while now. Thing about this story is that it's gonna be different than some of the others I've done. The first being that this is a crossover: Harry Potter/Kingdom Hearts. That means that just about anything could happen. Anyways, onto the canon changes.**_

_**Firstly, I'm gonna change a few canon facts that I normally wouldn't. The first is that Harry is born before all the others are. He's still born July 31, 1980 in this story, but all the others are born a month or two later. It's not too important of a fact, but I just like it when Harry's the older one as it shows how mature he truly is in the books and movies. I mean, I get the whole "Harry's the youngest, but has the most responsibly" thing, but his age really has no bearing on the story. Just that he was "born on the seventh month".**_

_**Secondly, I'm making it so the Peter Pettigrew AKA Wormtail stayed with Voldemort to witness the killing of the Potters. It really has no true meaning now, but later on in the story…**_

_**And Lastly, I'm making it so that Leon and Cloud are the same age as Harry. Since, as you can imagine, the time difference between whole worlds and realities (like from Tron's World in KH2 to Hercules' World in KH1) is a real mess. So, I'm making it so that Harry, Leon, Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, and some other characters are the same age or a few months younger than the mentioned ones.**_

_**Those are the only changes I can think of right now, but if I have anymore, I'll be sure to update this first chapter with them.**_

_**Also, if you want Harry or the others to have any special weapons or go to anywhere, then feel free to PM me or leave it in a REVIEW. That includes special powers, or certain fights you want to see happen.**_

_**Now then, the main portion of this chapter takes place the night Voldemort found the Potter's home, and before the Keyblade War in Birth By Sleep. I've never played Birth By Sleep, but I know Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 like the back of my hand… mostly…**_

_**So yeah, the night of Voldemort's attack on Godric's Hollow and two years before Aqua, Terra, and Ventus take their test to becomes a Keyblade Master.**_

**Chapter 1: Forgotten Departure**

* * *

><p>"The P-Potters… t-they h-hide at…"<p>

"Finish it, Wormtail! They will never accept you now. You've lead me all the way here, and I shall destroy this entire town if I must." Voldemort hissed out as Wormtail flinched away. Voldemort then smiled at Wormtail's conflicted look. He rested a hand on the chubby and stout man's shoulder, working his charm, "But then again, Wormtail, they were never to accepting of you, were they? You were all alone in the background, the darkness while they basked in the light and attention of others. You were always on the outskirts, surviving on their pity for you and thriving on their popularity to gain the attention you always so desperately wanted. Never in the light, always lurking just behind the shadows while they danced and sung songs of joy."

"B-But they trusted me… They made me their-"

"Ahh, yes, but they wanted Sirius Black first, didn't they… Peter? You were merely a tool for that fool Dumbledore to use to deceive me. Don't let their fake faith in you blind you from the truth, Wormtail. They _never_ trusted you, they never _loved_ you. You were merely there for their entertainment. They enjoyed how you suffered at the hands of your parents while they strutted around Potter's castle. They enjoyed seeing you pale and thinning in a cold bed at your own worthless home with no food, while they ate feasts at Black's manor. They took in poor Lupin the werewolf while they couldn't even see the troubles that you hid from them." Voldemort said, seeing Wormtail's resolve weaken.

"But they-"

"Deserve _nothing_ from you! Show them who their _better_ is! Show them that it is _you_ who holds the _true_ power! Be the instrument of their destruction. Tell me Peter, and I shall give you everything you have ever wanted; fame, respect, riches, and a high place in the new world order. A world in which you will have a say in." Voldemort said, his charming words and suave features twisting a mental dagger into Wormtail's mind.

"The Potters hide like _filth_ at #13 Godric Lane, Godric's Hollow, my Master. We shall make them suffer for the indignities I have endured over these many years." Peter Pettigrew spat out as Voldemort smiled cruelly.

* * *

><p>As Wormtail spilled the secret he had been spelled to keep, his very actions of betraying the purpose of the spell caused it to fail completely. The Fidelius charm collapsed in a splash of golden light, revealing a two story cottage house with a garden, surrounded by a brick wall with only a small wooden fence for entrance where before it was all just vacant land with a small fountain in the middle.<p>

Voldemort smirked as he stepped forward and with a flick of his wand, threw open the small wooden gate and marched towards the front door with Wormtail sullenly and cowardly trailing after him. Voldemort was confident, even as he heard shouts from inside the house indicating that his prey was aware of his approach. With complex weaves of his wand and muttered words, a temporary anti-Portkey ward was raised over the property. Two more times did the Dark Lord weave spells, adding an anti-Apparition and a Floo-block.

"I grow tired of this." Voldemort said as he saw the lights within the house go out and all become quiet. With a mere thrust of his wand, the Dark Lord blasted the front door off its hinges and sent it barreling into the open hallway of the house.

Almost immediately afterward, Voldemort was forced to throw up a shield charm as a powerful blasting curse nearly caught him by surprise and could have very well blown off his head. Said curse was fired by the fiery looking James Potter that stood atop the broken door while glaring at the two men to break into his house. Another curse nearly took off Wormtail's head as Voldemort laughed coldly.

"You owe me a new door, you wanker!" James shouted as he began waving his wand about, sending off powerful curses and spells while Voldemort countered and returned them all.

"Surrender, Potter, and I shall spare you and your wife." Voldemort shouted as he and James began to duel, "I am only here for the child!"

"Never, you bastard! You'll have to kill me first! And you Wormtail! You traitor! We trusted you!" James yelled as he started firing off spells at Peter as well, who dodged pitifully as fright overtook him.

"I'm… sorry! You all hated me!" Peter moaned sorrowfully as James sneered fiercely.

"You were one of my best friends!" James yelled, blasting apart the picture of a cat that was just above Peter's head.

"You never loved me! It was always Sirius and Remus! I was only there so you could watch me suffer!" Peter Pettigrew shouted back as he raised his wand and began to fight alongside his Dark Master.

"What the devil are you talking about! We loved you! We would have died for you! You let Voldemort twist his words in your mind like a dagger in one's heart! You have chosen your path, Peter!" James yelled furiously as he battled both of them, "From this day forth I declare you an enemy of House Potter. So Let It Be Noted!"

The flare of power from within the house scared Wormtail as one of the most powerful magical oaths he had ever witnessed was performed. Even Voldemort gave pause as Peter was blasted out of the house.

That pause wasn't for long, however, as the Darkest of Dark Lords was knocked out into the street next. Voldemort got up just in time to seeing James jump from the doorway with the name of spells already on his lips. The two did battle in the garden, calling on powers and magics they scarcely remembered. James using fire spells as Voldemort banished them into the skies above, wanting to show his might in a show. Voldemort smirked as he unleashed a powerful Fiendfyre curse. James had a difficult time with it as Voldemort watched on, but finally overpowered it and banished it into the darkening sky. The skies above began to spark and crackle as black clouds formed and gathered, darkening over the village of Godric's Hollow.

Voldemort, however, didn't care about the weather as he got the upper hand, banishing James back into the front hallway of ish house. James skidded across the floor as Voldemort laughed at him, walking calmly into the front hole that used to be the doorway with a cool smirk upon his charming face.

"You cannot win, Potter. Submit to my-"

"Oh will you just shut up!" James yelled as he raised his wand. He made a long complicated pattern upward, and then, brought it down as if a great weight were keeping the wand up and stopping him. Voldemort paused as he heard the roar of thunder and flashes of lightning.

"What are you doing!" Voldemort asked as James laughed.

"You may not have noticed, but I fired exactly 26 fire-based spells at you; all ranging from mid-to-high level magics that are normally not to be used by Aurors. Your own Fiendfyre did it, though. That much power helped set it all off." James said as Voldemort narrowed his eyes, and brushed back his wavy black hair.

"What in the name of Morgana are you talking about, Potter?" Voldemort asked tensely as James chuckled.

"Don't you get it? If you paid attention in Astronomy, then you'd know what happens when you release large amounts of fire-based magic into the atmosphere." James said as it seemed to click on Voldemort.

"… A storm…" Voldemort whispered in shock as James raised his wand high once more.

"Yes, and now we'll die here together. _**Thunderous Maxima**_!" James said, yelling the name of his spell as Voldemort noted that he had never heard of the spell before.

Lightning stroke down on the house, creating a large explosion that shook the house to it's very foundation.

* * *

><p>Voldemort was not even bothering to pick his jaw off the ground as he openly gaped at the destruction to the house that James Potter had done in an effort to destroy him. Even he had to admit that had he not raised his most powerful of shield charms when he did, he would have been finished.<p>

Unfortunately, Potter wasn't done with that as his tired and half-charred body still clung to life. Voldemort was a bit surprised by the man's will to live. Potter had used most of his magic in that last God-like spell, had been hit by a fraction of the powerful lightning (the man having been under a part of Voldemort's shield that had shatter instantly on impact), and even managed to somehow keep the chimney intact with a barrier. Voldemort surmised that keeping the chimney up was so Lily Potter could escape from the wreckage that was once a reasonably luxurious cottage with her and Potter's son, Harry Potter, once Potter and he were dead from the lightning strike. But oh no, James Potter hadn't "kicked the bucket" just yet as Voldemort felt a powerful hand clamp down on his ankle when he was about to drop his shield and step over the man's charred corpse.

"Where… d-do y-you… t-think you're… g-going…?" James breathed out, coughing up blood as Voldemort only showed shock and awe for the man's still breathing after what he did before he calmed himself and replaced his shock with a look of cool control over the situation.

"You will die, Potter. The right half of your body is not far from being ashes and your head is bleeding. If you were to seek medical attention right this moment, then the good witches and wizards at St. Mungo's would probably be able to heal you. Madam Pomfrey at Hogwarts would have you back to your old self in no time." Voldemort said pleasantly to the dying man as James glared up at the Dark Lord's smug face, "Sadly, neither will be the case as you will die there, on the ground, as I simply walk up the stairs and kill your son. I say only your son, because perhaps Lily Potter will have more intelligence than to stand in my way."

"Fat chance!" a woman's voice yelled from upstairs as Voldemort frowned with an annoyed sigh.

"Have fun in the afterlife, Potter. Do send me a postcard from it, because once I kill your son, I'll never have to see it." Voldemort said, figuring he'd do the dying man some small curtsey as he raised his wand, "_**Avada Kedavra**_!" Voldemort incanted as the lambent green light of the Unforgivable Curse shot down from his wand and collided with the body of James Potter, who looked defiant and glared up into Voldemort's eyes, even as he was hit with the Killing Curse.

Voldemort rolled his eyes as he heard Wormtail give a horrid cry at seeing his ex-best friend dead at the Dark Lord's feet and then the sounds of a crying baby. Wormtail came toward them, but at where the front door used to be, he smashed into a golden light. Peter backed away from it as he stopped the flames from consuming his clothes. He stared down at James Potter's body from where he was on the doorstep, the front of the house being almost completely gone. Pettigrew felt fear and anger at James slowly being overwhelmed by the guilt at having betrayed his oldest of friends. Wormtail cried tears of sorrow as he dropped to his knees at the doorstep, sobbing while he gazed upon James' body.

"Why didn't you listen to him! Why didn't you just let him have the boy, Prongs! There is no fighting the Dark Lord, James! You never would have had to die! Lily, I pray you're smarter than James was! Just give up the child!"

"Never, you traitor! I'll die for my son! Now get away from our cottage!" Lily's voice cried through sobs as Voldemort scowled.

"This is getting ridiculous…" Voldemort muttered as he smacked his forehead and ran the hand down his suave face. Honestly, why were all the people that involved themselves with the Potter's half-crazy?

* * *

><p>Tom Riddle- no, filth, he did not go by that accursed name! He was <em>Voldemort<em>! _Voldemort_ took a deep breath while shaking his head. Wormtail waited outside while Voldemort ascended the up the half-destroyed stairs. When he reached the bedroom of young Harry Potter, Voldemort found Lily Potter standing defiantly in front her son's crib. The woman's one year-old son was standing up as he leaning on the edge of the crib to see what was happening. The boy was crying as the boy must have sensed the inherent evil of the Dark Lord. Voldemort raised a brow as he saw this before Lily had her wand pointed directly at his chest, but the Dark Lord made no effort to raise his own in defense. He could feel the woman's fear. The filthy Mudblood was practically shaking as he saw tears stream down her face, even though she looked as furious and defiant as her husband had been in the face of Death. Voldemort chuckled, surprising Lily as she steadied her wand and trained it on his heart…

If he had one…

"Lily Potter-

"Don't you dare say my name! You are a heartless monster and a destroyer of all things good! You will not take another step toward my son, or else you will have me to deal with." Lily spat furiously as Voldemort sighed in mocking sorrow.

"Foolish woman." Voldemort said, almost sadly, as he disarmed Lily and caught her wand, flinging it down the stairs, "Step aside and let me kill the boy."

"Never! I don't care if my wand is gone. You'll never touch Harry." Lily said as Voldemort's charming smile fell.

"I promised Severus Snape that I would not kill you. I only want the boy. You can either hand him over, or make me break that very fragile promise." Voldemort said as Lily gasped.

"S-Severus…?" Lily said in shock as Voldemort nodded.

"Yes, Severus Snape. He didn't care much about Potter, but you and the child… well, mostly you, he cared greatly for. He begged and pleaded at my feet for days to spare you and your son… again, mostly you. He loves you, Lily Potter, even after your marriage and child-bearing to his worst enemy." Voldemort said, twirling his wand idly, "I must admit, I've never understood love or anything of it's pathetic nature, but I do understand control. You have control over Severus, complete control; something that I and Dumbledore never did. You have his loyalty and his heart. Everything he is belongs to you. He effectively made himself your servant, your slave, when he came and begged for days in front of his fellow Death Eaters at my feet for you and your son's live… again, mostly you. Would you have him live a life without you now that you know?"

"Yes! If it means protecting my son, then a thousand times yes!" Lily said fiercely as she stepped back to her son's crib and glanced back at her offspring with a far gentler look than the one she was giving Voldemort, who looked slightly amused at her interaction with the boy.

"Fine then, woman. You will die and so will your son. However, I am not without understanding of a woman's love toward those she houses, especially her son." Voldemort said, remembering the only good Muggle woman he ever met was the caretaker of the orphanage from his childhood, "I will allow you a last moment with your son in life before I send you onto what Dumbledore pitifully calls "the next great adventure", but don't worry, Lily Potter nee Evans, your son will soon be joining you." Voldemort finished, the smug smile on his face speaking more volumes than the barrier he was creating around the room so the woman couldn't escape.

Lily turned completely to her son, not caring if Voldemort struck her in the back as she was already ready to die for her son. She gently kissed Harry's forehead, being sure that the magic she was using went unnoticed by the Dark Lord mere seven feet away. Her son looked up at her, his emerald eyes the same as her own as she ruffled his tuff of jet black hair.

"My eyes are your own as your father's hair is as well. Harry Potter, my son. There's so much I want to tell you, so much I want you to see when you grow older-"

"Which he won't." Voldemort chimed in impassively as he gazed down at his nails while Lily ignored him without pause.

"But, I won't be there. Not for your first day of school, and not for your sorting when and if you ever know about Hogwarts. Sirius Black is your Godfather, and Severus Snape… he'll protect you. Let It Be Noted, that when I die and from then on, Severus Snape shall serve you as he did me. With the Dark Lord Voldemort as my witness, he who claims Severus Snape as my servant and slave, Severus Snape will do as I wish." Lily said as Voldemort frowned. True, the woman had done nothing since both her and her child were going to die, but now he'd have to kill Severus.

And replacing Potion Masters was such a pain in the ass…

"Are you quite finished, woman?" Voldemort asked as Lily tearfully hugged her son, whispering words of love in his ear as the one year-old hugged his mother back.

Voldemort scowled in disgust at the scene before him. He was not own to lie to himself, he was jealous, outrageously so. He had never known his mother, had never felt the love of one, had never been held by one. Even though many women in his life had wanted to be close to him, none of them had seen the pain in his eyes as he watched them all, at the beginning and end of his Hogwarts years, all of those pitiful fools being held lovingly by their mothers and fathers, being greeted with gifts and kisses. No, all he got was Albus Dumbledore quietly Apparating him to the orphanage and leaving him there to _rot_ until summer ended while the other children in that accursed place… Ugh, he didn't even want to think about it anymore.

"Step aside, woman! Move now, or I'll kill you!" Voldemort shouted in bitter rage at Lily and his past while Lily turned to him and shielded Harry with her own body.

"No! No, not Harry!" Lily shouted desperately as Voldemort tried to move her, forgetting magic as he wanted to rip something apart limb by limb, "No, not Harry! Kill me instead! Spare my son! Spare Harry!"

"Fine, but he'll join you mere moments later. _**Avada Kedavra**_!" Voldemort shouted his wand arm struck out, a burst of lambent green light shooting from the tip directly into Lily's chest.

As the woman was blown off her feet, Voldemort couldn't help but watch her as she seemed to fall in slow motion just like his father had when he used the man's death to create one of his Horcuxes. As Lily Potter fell to the ground, dead, the light left her eyes and her expression was the same as her husband's had been; one of defiance in order to protect their son. As Lily hit the ground, there was no doubt in Voldemort's mind that the woman, because he knew that if she wasn't, she'd had never allowed herself a second of weakness while her son needed her.

Voldemort sighed tiredly as he could hear Wormtail's shrill sobs. The man must have seen the light and known Lily Potter was dead. Voldemort was slightly surprised when he saw Wormtail stumble into the room. When one was declared an enemy, they could normally never enter the houses of their foes without invitation. However, since both James and Lily Potter were dead, Harry was left with the responsibly of keeping House Potter's enemies from entering Potter estates, and with the boy being only one year-old and not having his magic fully developed, Wormtail was able to enter the house with some minor burns.

Voldemort glanced back at Wormtail when he heard the coward of a man gasp in fear and awe of the Dark Lord. He could tell that Peter's fright for him had rose higher as he bore witness to both Potters he had grown up and gone to school with dead.

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><p>Behind the collapsed body of Lily Potter the toddler Harry, who was still standing in his crib, began to cry. He did not fully understand what was happening, but it seemed to Voldemort that the boy was somehow sure his mother was gone as he cried and tears rolled down his face. Voldemort, however, didn't care about the instinctual six-senses of snot-nosed brats as he chuckled musically while raising his wand once more.<p>

"Such a pitiful child you are, Harry Potter. How you were to ever rival my power… well, after today, I will never know. If you could understand me, I'd tell you this was more of a better-safe-than-sorry measure I was taking, but you can't understand me, can you? To be honest, I had the fleeting thought that the destined boy to defeat me was the Longbottom child, but then I remembered something I had long since wanted to forget; I am a Half-Blood. It would stand to perfect reasoning that another accursed Half-Blood would be my own undoing. Though, when I'm through here, I will move on to tracking down the Longbottom boy as well and kill him, too. All this magical death is due to the Prophecy, and with all those possible targets of the Prophecy dead, none shall be able to oppose me. Goodbye, Harry Potter. May you live happily in the next realm over, because I most certainly will never know of it." Voldemort said as he advanced on the one year-old.

Behind him, Wormtail couldn't help but watch as the Dark Lord began to raise his wand and incant yet another Killing Curse, but as he looked on, Peter Pettigrew watched the events transpire in slow motion as horror filled his being. He was sure that if time hadn't seemed to have slowed down for him he'd have missed what happened right in front of his own eyes.

Just as Voldemort incanted the last syllable of his preferred curse, and brought his wand to bear on the crying Harry, the lambent green energy seemed to flow from the tip of the wand towards the child, but in that moment, a ghostly Lily Potter nee Evans appeared between Voldemort and her own son. She looked so serene, smiling at Voldemort and Wormtail before she looked back at Harry with the most loving smile either man had ever seen in their lives. Voldemort's spell hit her ghostly form and seemed to warp around her before shooting back at the Dark Lord, throwing the man's body backwards just as Lily's body had been tossed not two minutes before. Wormtail ducked and covered his face, all but a single eye, as he watched the apparition of Lily Potter give her crying son a gentle kiss to his forehead, consoling the boy, before she seemed to explode into thin wisps of air and green light. Wormtail turned from the bright light, remembering that he was still an enemy of House Potter and Lily could try to kill him.

When the light finally died down and Pettigrew dared to look about, he found the room was filled of scorch marks. Wormtail got up from the floor, not remembering when he crouched down to cower on it, as he gazed down at Voldemort's body, which was slumped against the wall beside the door. He turned his attention back to young Harry, who began crying again as he sat in his crib, his forehead cut exactly where Lily's ghost had kissed the boy and bleeding, but otherwise the child was unhurt, and quite remarkably alive.

Wormtail gaped for a while before he came to a realization; the Dark Lord he had betrayed his closest friends to in order to serve was inexplicably defeated, and that Aurors, Dumbledore, and most likely Sirius Black were almost certainly on their way there at that very moment. Wormtail panicked noisily as he grabbed Voldemort's wand, knowing that his Lord would return someday and would require his wand, and then rushing from the house as his life did depend on it. After clearing the doorway, Peter Pettigrew, apparated away, seeing that with the Dark Lord's death, the wards he had temporarily setup had fallen.

Though he wasn't truly known for it, his was quite cunning when he needed to be. So, with that in mind, Pettigrew needed to arrange things before someone caught up with him to allow him to fake his death in a very public setting because he knew that once Sirius found out he was alive, the man would never rest until he had hunted him down and killed him dead.

* * *

><p>Just moments after the crack of Wormtail apparating away shot through the night, a second sound of displaced air came from the front of the property as Sirius Black arrived in front the small wooden gate atop his motorcycle, gaping at the damage done to it. Nearly flying from his motorbike and through the blasted-open front entryway, Sirius let out an agonizing cry as he found the dead body of his best friend and brother in all-but-blood. Just when Sirius was about to go and check on Lily and Harry, he heard another apparating to the site.<p>

It was Severus Snape, and he practically flew past Sirius, not even glancing at James Potter's dead body as he flew up the stairs. Sirius, in angered sorrow, followed him, only to stop at the upstairs doorway to see the greasy-haired man moaning, crying, and sobbing relentlessly while cradling Lily's body to him, almost completely ignoring the crying Harry in the crib behind him.

"Snape! What are you doing here?" Sirius shouted, not caring to be polite in the face of two of his friends deaths.

"She's gone!" was Snape's anguished reply as he continued to cry right along with Harry. Sirius, though tears rolled down his face, stepped past Snape to retrieve Harry. He picked the boy up and tried to console him, but with Snape's crying, nothing seemed to work.

"Snape! Stop crying like that! I'm making Harry cry! Think about Harry! Think about Lily's child!" Sirius said, merely to keep himself intact as Snape reluctantly did as he was asked. Only for Lily Evans and her child, that is…

"Y-Yes… yes, you're right. We need to get Harry Evans out of this dismal place and to safety- Oh great Merlin, is _that_ the Dark Lord?" Snape said, searching for something before his eyes landed on Voldemort's body. Sirius didn't even respond as he, just like Snape, was gaping at the man's body.

Luckily or not, they were gaping just long enough for Dumbledore and Hagrid to arrive, coming up the stairs in quite the hurry for men of their ages.

"Oh good…" Dumbledore sighed in relief as he laid a hand over his heart and leaned against the wall tiredly, "We haven't arrived too late."

"Professor Dumbledore, sir, I think yer better be havin' a look at this. We might not be as early as ya think." Hagrid said, gaping alongside the others as Dumbledore turned to them before looking where they were. Finally seeing the dead body of Voldemort, Dumbledore sighed sadly as he shook his head.

"Poor, Tom. He could have been so many great things in life, yet now here he is; dead… temporarily." Dumbledore said as Snape, Sirius, and Hagrid turned to him in confusion.

"What do you mean by that?" Snape asked, his eyes narrowed as Dumbledore shook his head.

"I don't want to say too much, just incase I'm wrong, but I believe Lord Voldemort shall return." Dumbledore said as he gestured to the defeated Dark Lord's body, "His physical form defeated, but his wrathful spirit living on, clinging pitifully to life. Yes, I have no doubts now that Voldemort had some measures in place for just such an occasion."

* * *

><p>"Indeed he has, my old friend." a powerful and cultivated voice said from the stairs as all eyes turned to the doorway where three men appeared.<p>

The first man was one of scholarly grace and sage-like looks. He appeared so handsome, and yet still so wise. The man dressed in a periwinkle lab coat. Underneath he wore a dark grey vest, a white collar shirt, a violet ascot, as well as black pants and shoes. He also draped a red sweater-like scarf of some sort over his shoulders. The man's hair was blond, worn long and slicked back while also sporting a short mustache and goatee. His bright orange eyes seemed to dull some as he gazed upon the tragic scene before him.

"Ansem, it's good to see that you have made it." Dumbledore said, smiling slightly at the blond man as the blond man named Ansem nodded in greeting.

"Yes, we had a bit of difficulty arriving after receiving your message, but it seems we've gotten here too later." Ansem said as the man behind him cleared his throat.

"Not exactly, Ansem. We've arrived just in time." this second man said as all eyes shifted to him.

The second man seemed far more stern and severe than this Ansem character was. He appeared to be an old man, just as old as Dumbledore himself, if not even older with his long, grey hair, bushy eyebrows, and a long, grey beard that parted down the middle. He wore a tall sorcerer's hat, it being blue and decorated with several yellow stars and a yellow crescent moon. Sirius got the feeling the man was bald under the hat, though he was also sure that asking the man to remove his hat would get him a tongue-lashing. The man wore long, billowing blue robes with sky blue lining. From the billowing they had been doing, Hagrid saw that the insides of the serve old man's robes were a dark red. Snape, however, was focused on the man's eyes. The whites of which were quite large in comparison to his small pupils, something that was further highlighted by the fact that his eyes were wide open, as though they were like that often.

"What do you mean, Yen Sid, my old friend?" Dumbledore asked, looking quite serious as Yen Sid's scowl deepened.

"I can sense the trailing darkness within this very room. As well as the power of light… It's all centered around that youth." the severe old man, Yen Sid, said sternly as he pointed at Harry, who was falling a sleeping, sucking his thumb in Sirius' arms.

"Harry, what do you mean?" Sirius asked as the third man stepped forward.

"I believe the freshly-made scar off-center of his forehead is more than enough to tell the story of what has occurred here." the third man said, his voice calm and cool, as though he were meditating on life while he spoke.

This last man bore a distinct Japanese appearance in his choice of clothing. He wore a white, red lined haori that had a hood, along with slightly shorter than normal, light-colored hakama. Underneath his haori, the man wore a navy blue shirt with a large white X-pattern on the front. Gazing into his face, Sirius saw that the man had jagged scars over his right eye and left cheek. The truly unusual part of his appearance was in the fact that he wore pieces of armor. The pieces of armor were gold and black armored boots and a dull blue-green section that covered the man's abdomen. The man's black hair was tied into a short, high topknot, with one bang falling off to the right side of his face. He also has a short, triangular soul patch and a mustache.

"Yes, Eraqus is right." Dumbledore said, looking at Harry as he moved closer to see the boy's scar, gazing at it intently from behind his half-mooned spectacles, "this is no ordinary scar. No, it is magical if I had ever seen a magical scar in my life."

"Excuse me, Albus, but now that I've gotten my hysterics out of the way and can effectively wallow in self-pity and self-loathing for the rest of the days I live, I've come back to my senses. Who are these three men?" Snape said impassively, drying his eyes with a hand-towel from Hagrid as he thanked the half-giant.

"Oh, my, where are my manners." Ansem said as he smiled at the people within the room before giving a small yet polite bow, "Do allow me to introduce myself. I am Ansem, known to my people as Ansem the Wise. I hail from Radiant Garden, and also rule over the world as a sage. It's very nice to meet you."

"They're charmed, I'm sure." Yen Sid said, rolling his eyes at his friend's overly suave nature, "I am Yen Sid, Keyblade Master, Sorcerer, and ruler of the Mysterious Tower."

"And I am Keyblade Master Eraqus, ruler of the Land of Departure." Eraqus said, bowing deeply in respect to the people of the world.

"Forgive us, but this whole ordeal has left us a bit shaken and forgetful of our manners." Dumbledore said as gestured to Sirius and the others, "This is Sirius Black, Harry Potter in his arms, Severus Snape, and Rubeus Hagrid."

"Nice to meet you all. Now then, we had best get on with this situation. We'll take the boy as you requested, Albus." Ansem said as Dumbledore nodded, looking very relieved.

"Yes, quite good. Thank you. Giving them Harry, Sirius." Dumbledore said, not looking at Sirius as he spoke.

"What? Why? And you requested for them to take him?" Sirius said, holding Harry closer to him as Dumbledore looked back at him, his face set in barely contained rage.

"I didn't wish to create a scene, Sirius, we can talk about your betrayal of the Potters later-" Dumbledore said as Sirius raised a brow in confusion.

"Betrayal?" Sirius echoed in confusion, before his eyes widened, "No, Dumbledore! You've got it all wrong! I had James and Lily switch from me to… Peter…"

"What? Pettigrew betrayed them?" Snape demanded in rage as his fist clenched at his sides.

"Yes. I got here after checking on Peter. There was no forced entry at his house, but he was still gone and without the protections even tampered with. He left of his own free will, and then when I saw this…" Sirius said as Dumbledore sighed.

"We can deal with these events in due time. Hagrid, you take Sirius' motorcycle and alert the Ministry to what has occurred here while we sort the rest of this out." Dumbledore said as Hagrid was gone down the stairs in a hurry.

After all, it wasn't everyday you got to tell the Ministry that a one year-old little tyke had saved all of Magical Britain before they had even lifted a finger.

"Sirius, give Harry to them." Dumbledore said, his tone calm and pleasant since he now knew that Sirius wasn't a traitor.

"Why?" Sirius said as Dumbledore looked saddened to see Harry go.

"Harry simply could not stay in the Magical Britain, and the Ministry would be hard-pressed to stop any attempts of Harry leaving the country now that he'll be named a hero. Also, my original plan for if things went south were to send him to his mother's relatives." Dumbledore said as Severus Snape narrowed his eyes.

"You will do no such thing. I promised you I would protect the boy if anything went astray. And now I have _this_ over my head as well!" Snape said fiercely as he raised his right arm while pulling away his robe sleeve to reveal a crescent heart emblem branded into his very skin. The heart was divided in an X-pattern as the names Lily Potter and Harry Potter intersected, though the name Lily Potter was slowly faded as the name Harry Potter began to replace it, "I don't care that she did it. I have gladly given her my life for her name, but now she'd dead and Potter's spawn owns me. I will not have the boy anywhere near Petunia and her ilk, and that's simply because I know Lily wouldn't want her son there either."

"Yes, Severus, I have made note of that." Dumbledore said, still eyeing Snape's slave emblem as he nodded, "That is one of the reasons I made many contacts to my old colleagues and friends across existence. As old as I am, I have had the pleasure of knowing many walks of life and many people across all of reality. I was sure that at least one of them would respond back to me in time, and so they have."

"Oh, do you mean the Old Guard are still keeping in contact?" Ansem asked as Yen Sid frowned tightly.

"Not really, no." Dumbledore said with a solemn shake of his head while the twinkle in his eyes dimmed even more, the others noticed, "Though I have sent out the message that if any could, and would be willing to, help, that they should come. Sadly, you were the only ones to respond."

"What of Yoda? I would have bet he'd like to have another fine young Jedi in his Order." Yen Sid said with his head slightly tilted, "Or even Yamamoto? Or Sarutobi? Garp, Rayleigh, or Whitebeard? Oak? Gemini? Roshi? Hohenheim? Max? Bumi? Chiron? Genkai? None of them?" and with each name, Albus Dumbledore merely shook his head until Yen Sid was left gaping in shock and slight disgust for his fellow elders across the dimensions of reality.

"Sad to say, but none have responded… well, not positively. Yamamoto is dealing with a situation because of some of his Captains have been attacked and can't the time to raise and groom a youth. Sarutobi has just retired and doesn't want to reveal other realities to his replacement, along with helping his own family with the dangerous ninja life. Garp, Rayliegh, and Whitebeard are all dealing with fighting for their own lives along the seas. Oak has his grandchildren to look after and can't afford to take in another child. Gemini has the Digimon Gods breathing down his neck. Roshi is still reeling from his Tao's betrayal. Hohenheim doesn't want to raise a child while in his self-imposed exile. Max already has enough problems being a Plumber for a galaxy of aliens. Bumi is too busy trying to fend off the Fire Nation at this time to watch over a toddler properly. Chiron is ruining a dangerous summer camp and feels that a child descended from Hades and Hecate would not be very welcome in his dimension. Genkai said it'd just get young Harry killed if she took him in. Oh, and Traban feels that it would be favoritism on his part if he took in one important orphan from one dimension and not the others, but thankfully, he saw to it personally that my messages and their replies reached me as quickly as possible." Dumbledore said as Snape and Sirius exchanged looks, not knowing what the old men were talking about but also not wanting to be rude and interrupt to ask.

"I'm surprised." Eraqus said with a shake of his head, "We all lead dangerous lives, but for them to find taking in one child so bothersome."

"It's not that, my friend." Ansem said with a small sad smile, "It's what will happen to the boy when he comes of age. To go from one reality to another is a dangerous and some times deadly thing. To raise the boy for his destiny… that's a whole new chess set in it's own. I believe they didn't want to trouble the boy with their own problems as we old folk seem to do quite well."

"Yes, indeed." Yen Sid said, stroking his beard as he eyed the sleeping Harry in Eraqus' arms, "Our taking him in would be the best. Either we or Yoda would have been the best solution, and I think the others know that. It would give the boy a chance to not live a biased life, to not be sheltered with a set of believes while finding his own path. Our taking him in is the very best, as if Yoda had, the boy would have been made to be raised under that ridiculous Jedi Code; which Yoda is so very fond of." Yen Sid finished with a frown as Dumbledore sighed, looking all his hundred years of age.

"Are you still so adamant against Yoda's belief of not involving emotion in one's duties? I would have believed that 23 years would have softened your position on such a trifle thing." Dumbledore said as Sirius shifted uncomfortably, feeling as though he and Snape had just about blended in with the background as the old men forgot about them and the fact that muggles could have been coming at any second. Dumbledore must have seen him and known what he was thinking as he waved a hand, "Do not worry, young Sirius. I placed up Muggle-repelling charms and the like as I came here; powerful ones at that."

"Yes, well, I believe it is my biased from my days as a Keyblade Master that has me so against the No Emotion pact of Yoda's code. A difference in cultural beliefs and all that." Yen Sid said, looking a bit put-out as he shifted his weight from foot to foot, "Though I would never offend my dear friend Yoda by saying such things in front of his people, and if I were to bring up my opinion, I can assure you that it would be a mere debate and discussion of friendly banter; nothing more, I assure you."

"Yes, and that's all good and well." Dumbledore said as he gestured toward the stairs. As they traveled through the night and away from the destroyed cottage.

* * *

><p>Dumbledore stopped in the middle of the streets while he looked back at the house. He and the others watched as Aurors began to apparate into the grounds of the once lovely cottage with Yen Sid shaking his head, muttering things like "lax" and "not nearly quick enough for my tastes".<p>

"Do keep in mind that they aren't nearly as grand as we were in our youth, and that young Hagrid did not apparate to the Ministry of Magic." Eraqus said as he shifted young toddler Harry in his arms as the child sucked his thumb while asleep.

"I know, Eraqus, but still…" Yen Sid muttered, his severe scowl lessening.

"Umm… Dumbledore?" Sirius called while the strangers were talking amongst themselves. Dumbledore turned to him, "You still haven't explained why Harry is being made to go with those people. I'm his Godfather, he should stay with me."

"You're quite right, Sirius my boy, I haven't explained myself." Dumbledore said, looking a bit ashamed as a tabby cat came prowling up the street toward them, "But let me wait until dear Professor McGonagall arrives so that I will not have to repeat this.

"McGonagall?" Sirius and Snape echoed as the cat turned into the stern-looking witch as they both jumped back in surprise.

"Albus, what has gotten into everyone lately?" Minerva McGonagall asked as soon as she was near the Hogwarts Headmaster, "The Ministry making a Floo-announcement, owls littering the skies, parties spourting up, and people claiming that You-Know-Who is dead and that he… he… he k-killed the Potters…"

"Firstly, my dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this "You-Know-Who" nonsense… For eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name, as he wants it: Voldemort." Dumbledore said as Professor McGonagall was the only one to flinch, but Dumbledore didn't seem to notice, "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying "You-Know-Who." I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's chosen name."

"We all know you haven't." Professor McGonagall with a roll of her eyes, sounding half exasperated, half admiring, "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, _Voldemort_, was frightened of."

"You flatter me, Minerva." Dumbledore said calmly as he glanced over to his strange friends who still seemed to be talking amongst themselves, "Voldemort had powers I will never have."

"Only because you're too… well… noble to use them." McGonagall said as Dumbledore seemed to freeze up a bit.

"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs." Dumbledore said as Professor McGonagall shot him a sharp look.

"As I was saying before, do you know what they're saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?" McGonagall said as it seemed that she had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had traveled so far; for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did then. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true.

Dumbledore, however, was choosing to reach into his robe pockets for some candy as he did not answer.

"What are they saying, Minerva?" Snape inquired as he raised a brow, appearing perfectly calm in the face of the situation. Because he knew that it simply won't do to fall to pieces in front of others. He could do that at his house or wherever he rested for the night… most likely a gutter, as he felt that was where he belonged for being a part of the reason Lily was dead…

"What they're saying is that, this very night, Voldemort turned up here, in Godric's Hollow." McGonagall said, pressing on, "They say he went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are… are… that they're… d-dead."

Dumbledore bowed his head as Snape turned away and fresh tears welled up in Sirius' eyes. Professor McGonagall gasped, laying a hand over her heart as she staggered back some, "Lily and James… I can't believe it… I didn't want to believe it… Oh, Albus…"

Dumbledore reached out and patted the normally stern, now turned sorrowful witch's shoulder, "I know… I know…" he said heavily.

Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on, "That's not all. I was in the Ministry when the rumors started flying around and people from offices began flooding the corridors and such. They're saying V-Voldemort tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry… But he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy… No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke… and that's why he's gone."

Dumbledore nodded glumly with a heavy sigh as Professor McGonagall seemed to falter.

"It's… it's true?" McGonagall said with her hand still over her heart, "After all he's done… all the people he's killed… he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding… of all the things to stop him… but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"

"We can only guess…" Dumbledore said with a pointed look toward Harry, who was still sound asleep in Eraqus' arms while the man, Yen Sid, and Ansem walked up to them, "We may never know."

Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late in coming back. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way? You two must have bummed into one another while he was in the Ministry."

"Yes." Professor McGonagall said, "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, now, of all places?"

"I've come to see Harry off as he goes with these three fine gentlemen and old collegues of mine." Dumbledore said as McGonagall turned and her eyes widened a bit at the three men walking up behind her.

"It can't be…" Professor McGonagall breathed as Ansem gave her a smile while Yen Sid and Eraqus merely bowed their heads in greeting.

"It is good to see you once more, Minerva. I trust you've kept in good health?" Ansem said politely as he took Minerva's hand and kissed it.

"You three… especially you Ansem and Eraqus… Yen Sid I could understand, but you two…" McGonagall said quietly, still looking very shocked to see the three.

"Yes, well. I felt it would be a good chance to see Albus once again, and Eraqus wanted to revisit the world." Ansem said as the witch seemed to shake herself from her shock with a sigh of relief.

"Well, at least young Harry isn't going to his relatives. Do you know I've watched them for the week. Trust me, you couldn't find two people who are worst for Harry to be raised by. And they've got this son. I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!" McGonagall said, appearing to Snape and Sirius as though she were very relaxed with the three strangers, especially the Ansem character as she spoke with him.

"If I couldn't have contacted and got someone from the others to watch over young Harry, then those relatives would have been the best place for him." Dumbledore said firmly, "He would have needed a blood ward to protect himself from all sorts of Death Eater attacks and schemes until he could get to Hogwarts where we could watch over him."

"True, but sending him so very far away, Albus?" Professor McGonagall said, "The people in that reality will never see him the way our people will. They'll never truly never understand him. He'll be famous, Albus, a legend to compete with your own height. I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter Day in the future. There will be books written about him here that he'll never know of. Every child in our world will know his name!"

"Exactly, Minerva." Dumbledore said, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses as he gazed over each and every person around him, "It would be enough to turn any boy's head to arrogance, vanity, and folly. Fame of my level, before he can walk and talk properly! Famous for something he most likely will never even remember! Can you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it? Growing up to learn good morals and a semi-normal life far away from it all?"

Professor McGonagall was the only one about to open her mouth as Sirius and Snape seemed to have objections on the tip of their tongues as well. But, just like Minerva McGonagall, they too changed their minds and swallowed back their words.

"Yes… Yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy leaving from here, Albus? I don't see their Gummi-ship." McGonagall said eyed Yen Sid's cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding something underneath it.

"We have left the ship in orbit while young Mickey awaits us." Yen Sid said, frowning while he blushed in the darkness of the night, "We couldn't remember how well-received young Mickey was last we were here, so he stayed to man the transporter."

"Yes, that would have been best." Dumbledore said as he remembered how the young mouse-humanoid was treated during his last visit.

"Is that transportation device of your's safe for children?" Professor McGonagall asked as she took Harry into her arms from Eraqus, "You, Ansem, have been known to be a bit… careless with your inventions. You must admit that you tend to — what was that?"

A low rumbling sound had broken the silence of the night around them as they all began to look wildly around for the source of the noise. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they all looked up at the sky…

… and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.

* * *

><p>"Hagrid." Dumbledore said, sounding quite relieved, "At last. I won't want you to miss your chance to see Harry off."<p>

"Thank yer fer waitin' fer me, Professor Dumbledore, sir." the half-giant said as he climbed carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke, "And thank yer, young Sirius Black fer lendin' me the bike."

"No problems, were there?" Sirius asked as Hagrid shook his head, his beard and mane shaking wildly as he did.

"No, she flew like a charm." Hagrid said as he roughly patted the motorcycle, which didn't even budge under his heavy hands.

"Then keep it. After I see Harry off, I probably won't need it." Sirius said, planning on going to Azkaban for killing Peter for the betrayal.

"Is this where…?" Professor McGonagall whispered as she looked at the scar on Harry's forehead. Dumbledore and the others crowded around her as to get a look at Harry and his scar while the aged wizard nodded.

"Yes." Dumbledore said with a sagely nod, "He'll have that scar forever."

"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore? It's very noticeable and could get him n trouble if the wrong people stumble upon him." McGonagall said as Dumbledore sadly shook his head.

"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground." Dumbledore said as everyone seemed to want to just forget that last piece of information. Dumbledore cleared his throat, blushing as he pressed on, "Well… give him here, Minerva. We'd better get this over with. Good byes can always be so messy and prolonged if not done quickly."

Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward Ansem and the others while he bent over Harry, "You are your parents child and will undoubtedly grow into a grand young man. I wish you much luck, Harry Potter, your this new great adventure for you, and hope to see you attend Hogwarts when you come of age." Dumbledore said, reaching into his pocket as he placed a keychain in the boy's pajama pocket.

"That can be arranged, but only if the boy so chooses." Yen Sid said after exchanging looks with his fellow world-travelers, especially after they saw Dumbledore slip the boy a keychain.

Dumbledore passed Harry to Hagrid, who bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.

"Shhh!" Professor McGonagall hissed, "You'll wake the Muggles around here! Plus, the Aurors will be around soon to check the village after they get done with the Potter cottage."

"S-Sorry." Hagrid sobbed out, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it, "But I c-can't stand it… Lily an' James dead… an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles —"

"We're not Muggles, dear young Hagrid. Just wizards of a turn color." Ansem said with amusement clear in his voice.

"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found." Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore smiled.

McGonagall was up next as she reached into her own robes, "If we're giving him parting gifts, then he'll need to know our magics. I have a copy of first-year Transfigurations I was planning to have revised at the Ministry, but in all the excitement, I suppose I could just revise another and give Harry a bit of our world to go with him."

With that, McGonagall gave the book to Ansem, who took it in grace. Snape and Hagrid seemed to want to give young Harry something as well as they both began looking for something. Finally, Snape pulled out his wand with a huff and summoned a book to him as he handed it to Ansem as well.

"It's my old Potions text." was all Snape said as Ansem nodded with a smile.

"I know I've got something' 'round hera." Hagrid muttered, going through pockets and taking things out. Finally, he seemed to not be able to find anything good enough to give to infant Harry as he hung his head, "I've got nothing fer 'im…"

"Do not fret, Hagrid. I'm sure you'll have something for young Harry when he returns to us." Dumbledore said, as again the three other-worlders exchanged looks.

"Yer right, Professor." Hagrid said as Sirius stepped up with a small mirror in hand.

"I want Harry to have this." Sirius said as he gave the mirror to Yen Sid, who held it regally, sensing the ancient magic within the item.

Well then, if that is all, we'll be taking young Harry before we're discovered here." Ansem said, a small smile on his face as Dumbledore nodded with a tired sigh.

"Yes, that is all." Dumbledore confirmed as Ansem nodded back.

As they gave Harry gently back to Eraqus, Dumbledore took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the others as they stood a safe distance away. For a full minute they all seemed to be frozen as the four wizards and severe witch stood looking at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, Sirius couldn't stop his tears from falling, Snape merely looked on impassively as his mind grieved Lily's death and now Harry's departure, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.

Ansem coughed, feeling a bit uncomfortable with such a somber mood over them all. Finally, Ansem took out a small device and pressed a button on it's side.

"Mickey, my young friend, we're ready. We're in Godric's Hollow. You should have a lock on us from here." Ansem said into the device before he let go of the button. For a while there was nothing but static came through the device, but after a few minutes, a squeaky mousy voice broke through.

"_I read you… Prepping the transport now… Standby_…" the mousy voice said as Ansem nodded.

The wait was only five minutes before a twinkle in the sky caught everyone's attention. Looking up, everyone was shocked and amazed to see a column of blue light descend quickly down from the sky and touch down on the street just behind the three aged men.

"Well then, my friends; new and old, this is where we part ways. May we meet again, and until then." Ansem said as he backed away into the column of light where he disappeared.

Yen Sid gave only a curt nodded and as turned from the others and walked into the light, disappearing just as Ansem did.

"As Ansem said, I hope we shall meet again, but on better terms with better news than now. Goodbye for now." Eraqus said, holding young Harry in his arms as he slowly backed away into the light pillar. He and Harry vanished into the light and with them the column of light receded back into the skies above.

* * *

><p>"Well…" Dumbledore said finally after a short moment of silence, "That's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the soon to be in full-swing celebrations."<p>

"Yeah…" Hagrid said in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' good care of yer bike, Sirius. G'night, Professor McGonagall, Severus, Sirius, Professor Dumbledore, sir."

Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.

"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall." Dumbledore said, nodding to her as the witch blew her nose in reply before she, too, disappeared into the night.

Snape and Sirius merely nodded in begrudging acceptance of each other's presence before the apparated away on the spot.

Dumbledore turned and walked down the street. On the corner he stopped, first gazing at the disheveled cottage in the distance, but then up at the stars above.

"Good luck, Harry… and may Kingdom Hearts watch over you for now…" Dumbledore murmured as he turned on his heel, and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.


	2. Homeward Bound

_**The first chapter was set exactly 2 years before **_**Birth By Sleep**_**, which makes this chapter, which happens to be 10 years later, still two years before KH1.**_

**Chapter 2: Homeward Bound**

* * *

><p>Humming could be heard, if one were to take a stroll through the streets of Traverse Town and enter the normally silent Third District. If this person were to stumble across a strange door, which by the way could only be opened by trail of fire, then they'd hear the humming grow louder, into full-blown singing. If a person were to walk along the banks of this secret refuge, and find a way to the house in the middle of the waterway, then that person would be able to see a boy atop said decrepit house. If that person were to climb the ladder in the back of the house and work their way along the near crumbling shingled roof, that person would be able to get a clear view of the boy singing (quite <em>loudly<em>!) while his eyes were closed, large headphones covered his ears, and his fingers swung through the air as though he were leading an orchestra. If this person were to silently creep up for a closer look, then they could see the boy was completely unaware of his surroundings. If one were to rear back your fist, they'd probably get in a good punch, too.

However, if you were to actually _try_, then you'd find the world around you upside-down as the boy cracked open a single eye and pulled down his headphones to come to rest along his neck with a curious expression on his face.

This boy was so annoying. He was so stupid, too. He was such a jerk _with_ an ugly mug, and-

"Yeah? So what." the boy said as he stood up, "And _you're_ still not that good of a ninja."

"Let me down, you blockhead!" the wannabe ninja cried as she struggled to get free… of the air.

"If you'd stop trying to sneak attack me, then maybe I would. I haven't been staying with Old Man Merlin for nothing, ya know." the boy said as the ninja continued to struggle unsuccessfully.

"You let me down, or else I'll tell on you!" the ninja, a female ninja, yelled as the boy tilted his head curiously.

"Really now? What are you? Five? Go ahead, tell on me… That is, if you can get down from there." the boy said as he slid his headphones back over his ears while reaching into his pocket, pulling out a device as he fiddled with it before he gained a joyous expression, "Oh man! This is my song!" the boy cried happily before he began air-drumming with reckless abandon.

* * *

><p>The girl's yelling and the boy's blissful ignorance of said yelling was very loud. So loud, in fact, that the occupant of the house they were atop came out from the tiny dwelling, throwing aside the tattered sheet, which was used for a door, as he stomped out of his home in annoyance.<p>

The greatly annoyed man looked to be greatly old. He was an elderly man, with pale skin along with thin arms and legs. His nose was a bit large (_Hey_!) and his black eyes were rather small and close-set. He wore spectacles with circular lenses, and seemed to be balding as he had short, white hair on the sides and back of his head. He also had bushy eyebrows, a walrus mustache, and a long, floor-length beard; all of which are white. He was dressed in a sky-blue cloak that stopped just above his ankles with large, hanging sleeves. He wore pointed slippers and a tall, floppy, conical hat, both of which were the same sky-blue color as his cloak. In his hand was a walking cane, which was a very long, featureless, brown rod with a small bump on one end for his hand to rest comfortably.

The man did not look at all amused as he stomped from his house to gaze up at his roof and the two whippersnappers atop it.

"Now see here, confounded! Stop all that racket! Consorted! You release that girl this instant, or they'll be trouble to pay!" the old man shouted as he shook his unwrinkled fist at the boy, who raised a brow as he gazed down at the ancient male.

"Huh?" the boy said as he finally lowered his headphones while steam seemed to shoot out of the old man's ears.

"Ohh! That does it!" the old man said as he raised his cane high, and with a single swish of it, the boy found himself in the same upside-down as the girl. While the boy deadpanned, his expression tight and humorless, the girl found the irony of the situation completely laughable as she pointed and laughed while the boy crossed his upside-down around.

"Not funny…" the boy muttered firmly as the girl continued to laugh.

"Yes it is! The irony is to die for!" the girl breathed between her fits of amusement.

"Now release her." the old man said as the boy sighed.

"If you say so." the boy said with a shrug as he snapped his fingers and the girl was turned right-side-up… only to plunge into the waters below with an audible slap.

"That is not what I meant, Harry, and you know it!" the old man said as he shook his cane at the still upside-down boy, who only shrugged again.

"Maybe, but it's what you said." the boy said as he found himself turned right-side-up… before he too descended into the waters below with a splash.

As the girl laughed at even more irony, the boy, Harry, came to surface with a splash as he spit out a long stream of water.

"I guess this is what they mean when they say you're all washed up…" the boy Harry muttered as he and the girl swam to the shore of the house.

"Yes, and maybe we wouldn't be if you got your act together." the girl ninja said as Harry raised a brow while they climbed the bank of the property.

"Is there a reason you're here in the first place… other than to annoy me today?" Harry asked as the girl grinned.

"But I didn't annoy you yesterday. I thought it'd be fun if I got an early start today to make up for it." the girl said as Harry sighed, snapping his fingers once more, drying them off.

"It's just barely past dawn. What is the real reason? You're never up this early… or before noon, a matter of fact. And what's with the clothes?" Harry asked as he looked the girl up and down.

The girl crossed her arms and pouted as Harry looked her over. She had short, black hair and wore a metal headband with two green tassels. She wore a yellow scarf around her neck, a green tube-top and two blue belts holding it up along with tan short-shorts with another loose, blue belt around her waist. She had on white socks that reached about mid-thigh, orange shoes, and mesh sleeves on her arms that disappeared into orange, fingerless gloves with black bands constricting the ends.

"Why? Like what'cha see?" the girl said, striking a pose as Harry's expression of annoyance turned deadpan.

"No." Harry replied flatly as the girl fell over, "You're ten years-old. You shouldn't even be able to spell "skimpy", let alone wear something that is."

"Harry!" the old man, who the two had forgotten about, admonished as he jabbed the boy with his cane, "How many times must I tell you; it is impolite to say things against a lady's appearance."

"What lady? All I see here is a shrimp." Harry said as he was once again jabbed in the back with that damn cane of the old man's.

"She is a lady, confounded, and you will show her some decorum!" the old man said in an unusually stern tone of voice as Harry bowed to the girl.

"Please, forgive me. I did not mean to offend… much." Harry said in a respectful tone, until he smirked at the end with the girl smirking back. The old man threw his hands into the air with a frustrated sigh.

"I give up! I'm going back to my nap!" the old man announced loudly as he stormed back into his hut with the two children watching him before they turned to each other.

"Trust me, you didn't offend anyone." the girl laughed as she and Harry sat on the bank, "Besides, if you had actually liked this… then I'd have to go home, and change."

The boy shook his head in amusement, kicking out at the waters below as he made the tranquil lake ripple with his actions.

"Sometimes, you're just to much, Yuffie. Now really, why are you here?" Harry asked as the ninja girl, Yuffie pulled a face.

"Yen Sid and DiZ are here… and they're looking for you." Yuffie said quietly as a crash was heard from within the small house. The old man from before rushed out of the house, nearly falling off the bank and into the water which was so close as he stared at the two children in wide-eyed shock.

"Yen Sid? DiZ? Here already? It hasn't been a year already has it?" the old man asked hysterically as Harry and Yuffie looked on in slight concern.

"You might wanna calm down, Old Man Merlin. Ya know, before you have a heart attack." Harry said, his tone not one of amusement as his eyes glistened with concern for the old man identified as Merlin.

Merlin gave a sigh as he tutted sadly, shaking his head sadly as he looked his old age.

"Harry, dear lad, I had no idea time would pass so quickly." Merlin said somberly, "Why it feels as though it were only yesterday that Mickey brought you to my doorstep. Where does the time go…?"

"Hey now, that's no way to see things." Harry said, looking cheerful for Merlin's sake, "I've learned a lot from you. And ya know what they say; time flies when you're havin' fun!"

Merlin gave a small smile, looking a bit better as he nodded, "Yes, you're right. Besides, I'm sure that should I continue to live, and you finally be able to stay out of danger, then we will inevitably meet again. I hope to here that you've grown smarter and wiser by then."

"Whoa now! I'm plenty smart!" Harry defended, "You said so yourself just yesterday."

"Yes, indeed I did… Old age must be catching up to me…"

"Hey!" Harry shouted as Merlin chuckled, ruffling the boy's already unkempt hair before the boy smacked his hand away.

"I'm only teasing, my young apprentice." Merlin said, his eyes twinkling with mirth before he sighed, "Now then, we had best get a move on. I'll pack your things-"

"Actually, Master Merlin." Harry said, a tone that seemed quite respectful yet still so causal to the young boy, "If it makes no difference, can I do the packing."

Merlin stood there, a hand stroking his beard as he hummed in thought. Yuffie, the young ten year-old female ninja that she was, didn't seem to care which way the decision went as she squealed at the thought of seeing more magic.

"I love it when I see you guys do magic. It makes standing Harry's ugly face bearable." Yuffie said as Harry scoffed.

"You're one to talk, dirt skirt." Harry muttered as Yuffie smacked himself upside his head, her face and ear pink with embarrassment.

"I was five, and Aerith made me wear it!"

"… You're point?"

"Why you no good, worm-licking, joy stealing-"

"Enough!" Merlin said as he raised his cane. The two children flinched back, knowing that a bump on the noggin from said instrument would hurt, "Yes, Harry, you can do your own packing. Come inside. Both of you."

And inside they went. Truth be told, while the inside was much larger than the outside looked, it was not too much better in comparison. The place was cramped and cluttered with large stacks of books, old Victorian furniture pieces, and other odd things as well as a fireplace and chimney.

"Now then, how shall you do it? Would you like to use my cane?" Merlin asked, holding out the stave to the youth, though Harry shook his head.

"No thank you, Master Merlin. I'd like to do it on my own." Harry said, cracking his knuckles as he took several deep breaths while Merlin and Yuffie watched him in anticipation.

"Yes, that's it… Center yourself. Feel the energies around you… Draw them in… Yes, yes, that's the ticket, ward." Merlin said as Harry began to wave his hands about as though he were leading an orchestra.

As Harry raised his hands high, his magic flooded the room, commanding the things he wanted to move to do his bidding. A small trunk floated high before it settled itself at Harry's feet while the books began to race about the air as though they were trapped inside of a tornado. Yuffie looked on in wonder and awe as Merlin watched with a critical eye for detail in the mystical patterns Harry was creating. The furniture moved out of the way, each step the normally inanimate objects took made them grow smaller as the book began to fly toward the small traveling case. As soon as the books began piling themselves inside the trunk, they grew smaller as they moved themselves to the musical patterns of magic.

"Impressive, my young ward. Creating a tempo that the objects can follow steadily is normally a very hard thing to do, manifesting it even harder. You'll go far, Harry, you'll go far." Merlin said, clapping and banging his cane to the beat as Harry sent him a small smile of gratitude for the praise.

"Yeah, that's all well and good, but why classical symphony music? Why not some Rock-n-Roll or even Pop?" Yuffie asked as Merlin scoffed lightly.

"That hogwash? No, I think not. It'll ruin the magical patterns created with it's wild and infection nature of constant pace change. The spell would go haywire before it even got started fully." Merlin informed as Yuffie huffed and crossed her arms.

"I was only asking, geez…" Yuffie muttered as Harry smirked, making the broom kicking Yuffie in the backside causing the girl to yelp.

"Don't mind Old Man Merlin. He's the one who created this spell. He knows best, even if he is… well, an old hack." Harry said as Yuffie giggled.

"Hmph, well I never…" Merlin said, as Harry's smirk grew.

"Yes you have. I said it just three days ago." Harry said, packing away the last of his things with three keychains jumping cutely into the truck on the last musical as the truck snapped itself shut and locked.

"Hmm…" Merlin hummed in thought as he gazed around the now empty house, "You're still too excitable; you've taken my furniture and tea set. You must learn to control yourself and your emotions better. Yen Sid will have your hide if don't, especially with the reason he's come all the way here for."

"Sorry…" Harry muttered with his head bowed. He hated disappointing Merlin, especially since he and DiZ were two of the only masters that allowed him to be a kid while he trained. True, Old Man Yen Sid had a soft spot for him, but that didn't stop the man from scolding him for his more… carefree moments. Though, he rather enjoyed the reward of a getting Master Yen Sid to smile, as it was a very rare and enjoyable thing.

But then again, Harry loved to make others smile regardless, so it stood to reason why he enjoyed see the normally stern and severe with a smile on his face and joy in his eyes.

"Now none of that, my young ward." Merlin said, laying a hand on Harry's shoulder, "You've exceeded my expectations, and gone beyond much of what we thought you capable of by this point."

"I have?" Harry asked in confusion. Those that watched over him never spoke too much about what they expected out of him, which was the reason Harry always put his best efforts into his studies and trainings. Harry had always, despite what his masters tried stomp out, felt that he disappointed them in some way by the time he'd be moved to his next teacher to study under. Normally they'd just tell him a "good job" or treat him to something, but to hear that he exceeded expectation he never knew they had for him. It made him feel wonder, like he wasn't a failure, or just some mediocre student they took pity on.

And Hearts, did Harry hate pity…

"True, your control is not up to par with where it should be, but that can and will be corrected with time." Merlin said before he clapped his hands, the house around them disappearing as he did so only for a handbag to appear next to the old man, "Now then, let's get a move on. You both know how much Yen Sid deplores tardiness."

"Yeah, I should know. He says that with my lack of punctuality, I'll most likely be late to my own funeral." Harry said, chuckling at the odd and somewhat astonished looks he got from his two companions, "I _know_, I was just as surprised that he could joke, too."

And off they went, with that strange thought in mind.

* * *

><p>The trek across the districts was strangely peaceful, and oddly silent.<p>

"Hey, I have a question?" Yuffie asked as Harry's shoulders slumped in annoyance.

Well, at least it _had_ been peaceful and silent…

"What is, young Ms. Yuffie?" Merlin asked as they made their way past the doors leading into the Second District.

"It's just… normally when we make the trip across the districts, I always have to travel with Aerith, Leon, or Cid to be safe. Ya know, because of all the Heartless attacks that happen here in Traverse Town." Yuffie said before gesturing to the emptiness of the streets, "But now, there are no Heartless attacking us; even here in the Second District where they're normally crawling with the little beasts. Why is that?"

"Hmm… Perhaps we're just lucky to out and about on one of those rare days where the Heartless don't feel like being active?" Merlin questioned curiously as Harry had to stop himself from scoffing allowed while Yuffie's head tilted in confusion.

"But… I don't think the Heartless work that way. I thought they-"

"Hey, it's a good thing. And you never question a good thing like this." Harry said quickly, even though he himself questioned many good things. Harry frowned and crossed his arms as they continued on their way, "_But unlike Yuffie, I know the true reason the Heartless aren't around right now. It's because we're not walking around with small fry like Leon or Cid, but with Old Man Merlin, and even though he isn't a Keyblade Master like Old Man Yen Sid; Master Merlin is still a very powerful person. Those weak Heartless around here have enough instinctual senses not to go messing with him at their pitiful levels compared to his own heights of power. I hope someday that I'm as strong as he is_…"

"If you say so, Harry…" Yuffie said with a shrug and a shake of her head. Boys, honestly…

"Here they are." a voice said mirthfully, "And look; they're not late at all! I believe you owe me 250 Munny right now, Yen Sid, my old friend."

"Yes, it would seem so." the stern Sorcerer said while stroking his beard absently as he handed off the munny, "However, given our young charge's record with keeping time, I believed it a safe bet. It would seem that much has changed within the year that we have not set eyes upon him."

Standing around Cid's shop were Yen Sid, Leon, Aerith, Cid, and DiZ. While Harry had come to know all of them as good friends, he could honestly say that he had never seen all of them in a single room together unless for his birthdays, which would be in the next two days.

"Master Yen Sid, you did not have faith in me?" Harry asked, a look of mock-hurt upon his face as Yen Sid continued to stare down at him with wide intimidating eyes.

"It was not a matter of faith in my student, but a matter of know his habits and basing my decision on just that." Yen Sid said before gesturing toward Merlin, "However, I see that Master Merlin here has succeed where DiZ and myself have failed. Congratulations are in order, Master Merlin, for you have done the impossible."

"Oh my. Ha, heh." Merlin laughed as all the others chuckled at the bit of snide humor from the normally severe Sorcerer.

"I'm so glad all of you find me so amusing." Harry quipped sarcastically, "Really, I should go into stand-up comedy instead of combating the forces of Darkness."

"Oh lighten-up." Yuffie said, smacking Harry in the back roughly, "If even Yen Sid is joking around, then they must not be here for bad news."

"Yes, young Ms. Yuffie is right, Harry." DiZ said, his bandaged smile almost creepy to all but Harry, "We are here with no bad news. In fact, it's rather good news… in a way."

Harry gave the man a suspicious look as he crossed his arms, every eye on him, "Okay, I'll bite; what's this almost good, not so bad, news?"

"You are to be going back… to your home-world, Harry." DiZ said as Harry felt his jaw drop while staring at the man unabashed. He wasn't the only one, as even Aerith, Leon, Yuffie, and Cid were doing the same. Yen Sid stood with his arms folded, his stern expression never changing, and Merlin seemed to be in a sense melancholy.

"You're not joking, right?" Harry asked, turning to his two other mentors, " He's not joking, right? Tell me he isn't joking."

"He is not." Yen Sid said as Merlin nodded, tears welding up in his eyes as he wiped them away from behind his spectacles.

"No Harry, he's not. Come this time tomorrow, you will have arrived on your home-world to spend the year there." Merlin said as Harry's eyes couldn't seem to widen fast enough.

Harry didn't know what to say as he continued to gape in surprise and shock. His masters had never made it a secret that he was from a far-away world. In fact, they reminded him of the fact everyday with his studies; studies that were in books which came from his home-world. However, that didn't mean Harry had any delusions of actually being allowed to return to his own world. He had always figured that it was swallowed up by the Darkness or was some rough place not for children, like Port Royal. He only figured this because his mentors had never spoken much about his world when he was younger, back when he had many questions about his planet and didn't understand proper respect for his elders choice not to tell him until he was ready.

"I… You… We… Me… Home… I…" Harry sputtered out, not knowing when he had become a jam-gel of nonsense at the thoughts of his origins. His mind felt overloaded as he stared between his mentors, gazing at each one before moving to the next and repeating the process twenty times.

Finally, it seemed DiZ patience was the one to wear thin as he held up a hand to quiet Harry's babbling. The others found him to hilarious and Yen Sid seemed to be more understanding than usual as he merely ghosted a smirk on his face, tiny dots for pupils locked on Harry.

"Enough, Harry, please." DiZ said while holding up his hand, "Yes, you are going back to your home-world. Yes, we are going to bring you. Yes, it will be your home from now on. Yes, we get that you don't know what to say."

DiZ, Yen Sid, and Merlin all smiled as Harry finally took in a breath before bowing lowly in respect and gratitude. There were plenty of people through the Hearts-verse that didn't get the chance to see their home-world, let alone return to it for living, "Thank you, Masters. Thank you. I… I don't what else to say to completely express just how grateful and happy I am. Please, forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive, young Potter." Yen Sid said while stroking his beard, "We understand how this sudden prospect could overwhelm you."

"Yes, that we do." Merlin said, wiping at his eyes, "Just promise this old bag o' bones that you'll give those natives your all. You've been a great pupil for us. All I ask is that you continue to be a good ward while you take in your native learnings."

"I will!" Harry said quickly, still far too happy to be able to see and live on his home-world, a world he had dreamed about since he could remember, "I'll do my best!"

"Then let us be off." Yen Sid said as he turned on heel and with billowing robes moved toward the door, "Say your good-byes, as you will not be seeing anyone here until the time of long days and short nights."

"What is he talking about?" Yuffie whispered over to Leon, who scowled with his arms crossed.

"He means the summer. We aren't seeing Harry until the summer comes again." Leon said, not bothering to quiet his voice as he stood sternly next to the hyperactive ninja.

"Ohh!" Yuffie said, rising her voice to normal levels before her cheerful face dropped, "Ohh…"

"Hmm? Is something wrong, Yuffie?" Aerith asked as Yuffie shook her head.

"No, not at all! It's not like I'm gonna _miss_ the goofball or nothing! Where'd you get a crazy idea like that?" Yuffie said, a fake smile on her face as the others around merely stared at her. Even Leon gave her a look as he raised a brow in skepticism.

"Right…" they all chorused as Yuffie's face went red. Cid chuckled as he walked over and ruffled her hair.

"Aww, shucks, lookie here. Ninja Girl gots herself a crush on Magic Boy. Ain't that- Oph!" Cid was saying teasingly.

… that was, until Yuffie grabbed his arm and threw him over her shoulder into one of his store's walls.

Hey, she wasn't called a ninja for nothing ya know!

"I don't have a crush on _that_!" Yuffie said, pointing offendingly (if that was a word, they thought) at Harry, who simply raised a brow in confusion at the situation, "Just look at him! With his bird-nest hair, his stupid scar, his dumb green eyes, and his ugly mug! Not to mention his peaky complexion, stupid fringe, and completely obnoxious attitude; flipping between a respectful goodie two-shoes, a lazy bum, and a moron. There is no way I'd have a crush on someone like him! With his honesty, straightforwardness, truth, smarts, cunning, bravery, and loyalty. Yuck, he makes me sick!" Yuffie finished, making gagging sounds as everyone stared at her in silence.

"So… basically he's everything you'd _want_ in a guy _and_ _more_…?" Cid asked as Yuffie stood indignant while Harry was still very confused about what was going on.

Who was this guy with a stupid scar and fringe? He'd dying laughing if he ever met the guy.

"No, he's not! I'm ten years-old! I don't like guys, especially him!" Yuffie said, stomping her foot to the store's wooden floorboards, "He's an idiot! I bet he has no clue we're even talking about him! Besides, I'm a ninja girl; I can do _much_ better when I'm actually interested."

"Umm… Not that all this talk isn't interesting." Harry said, finally deciding that they had detracted far enough into whatever they were talking about, "But wasn't I about to leave? Heartfelt good-byes, anyone?"

"Huh?" everyone echoed as they all looked at him and his bags, "Oh!"

"Sorry, Harry my boy, where were we?" Merlin said, wiping his glasses on his robe.

"Me. Leaving. Now!" Harry said impatiently as DiZ nodded.

"Yes, that seems about right." DiZ commented as Yen Sid nodded in agreement, "Say your good-byes then, young Harry, and then we can be off."

Harry placed his bags to the ground. As soon as he did, they glowed a faint blue color before becoming pixilated and disappearing up into thin air as though they were made of data. Harry grinned broadly as he watched the whole process much like the others.

"I never get tired of that, ya know." Harry said as his mentors all rolled their eyes in exasperation.

"I swear to… well, _me_, that if you yell, "Beam me up, Scottie!" one more time in my ear while we're getting transported to the ship, I'll… I'll…" Merlin said, trailing off as he adjusted his glasses before he began shaking his wooden cane at Harry, "I'll bend up over my knee and give you a thorough hind-thrashing!"

"I'm sure you would, Old Timer…" Harry breathed, waving off his annoyed teacher as he turned to his friends.

The first to step up for their good-byes was Cid, who looked ready to cry, but held himself together well.

"I ain't normally the one for sassy stuff like this." Cid said, reaching into his sash for something before thrusting whatever he found into Harry's arms, "So here."

"Umm… thanks, Cid… I always wanted my very own…" Harry glanced down at what was in his hands, "… copy of _Breast in the Kingdom_ weekly…?"

"Huh?" Cid said before snatching the magazine from Harry and looking it over as his cheeks flared red, "Well I'll be… How'd that end up in there… Heh, heh…"

After being hit over the head and beaten soundly by Aerith and Yuffie, Cid came back with many bruises and patches as he roughly shoved yet another thing into Harry's arms.

"There, runt!" Cid grumbled, still nursing his wounds as he stomped back to his spot.

"Umm… a Gummi?" Harry inquired as Cid nodded, ripping away his disguise of a soundly beaten man as he gave Harry a thumbs-up and sparking smile that made Harry question the man's sanity as he did every other Saturday.

"Yup, it's your first one. I'm givin' it to you, but you'll have to collect more on your own… or buy them from me. At a reasonable price, of course." Cid said, flashing another smile as Harry gave him a look.

"I think I'd rather brave a volcano than pay your prices, Cid." Harry deadpanned as Cid shot him a look.

"Brat…"

"Old Guy…"

"Runt…"

"Burn Out…"

"Shrimp!"

"Gimp!"

"I am _not_ a gimp! I can walk just fine!"

"Not with that stick up your butt you can't! Drop your prices!"

"Never, you brat!"

"Then I guess you're in the same boat as Leon…"

"Wait, what about me and a boat?" Leon asked, lifting a brow as he crossed his arms.

"Nothing, now gimme present." Harry said quickly and childishly, holding out his hands as Leon sighed with a roll his eyes.

"How people put up with you in large doses… Well, I'll never know." Leon said, handing Harry a package from atop Cid's store counter, "Here. It's nothing much, since we were all only getting you things for your birthday, but whatever."

Leon handed the package to Harry, who set it aside as he looked at Leon expectantly. Leon sighed with annoyance as he shifted on his feet.

Damn the brat…

"It's a set of clothes just like mine. Aerith told me how much you liked my style of dress, and so since your own clothes are picked out before hand because of your travels with these old guys, I decided I'd be generous in giving you my hand-me-downs." Leon said before Aerith smacked him upside his head and knocked him to the floor with a purely innocent look on her face.

"Cool! Now I get to be an emo-badass too! Thanks Leon!" Harry said, pumping a fist into the air as the others chuckled.

"Wait, what was that about being badass?" Leon asked as he got up, rubbing his head which had impacted with the wooden floor.

"Noting, now gimme more presents." Harry said, quickly avoiding an incident.

"This is for you, Harry. It's a book on healing spells and first aid." Aerith said gently, giving him a present box that was wrapped beautifully.

"Thanks, Aerith. You're the best." Harry said genuinely as he gave Aerith a hug. He never could be goofy with her and her sincerity. Aerith always made him feel like he had to do his best, because in her eyes shone a sisterly or even motherly gleam that he felt taken in by every time they locked eyes.

* * *

><p>"Oh she's the best, now is she? Then I guess you don't want my gift then, huh?" Yuffie said, crossing her arms and stomping childishly.<p>

"Not a chance, shrimpo! Gimme gimme gift!" Harry said, in front of Yuffie in an instant with his hands held out expectantly.

"Okay, here's your gift." Yuffie said with a bright smile on her face as she placed her hands behind her back, "I hope you like it, because it's…"

And with her voice trailing off, Yuffie's fist suddenly found itself imploding Harry's face before the impact of her punch sent the dark-haired boy through several bookshelves and into the wall where his body made a steaming imprint. Yuffie's eye twitched in irritation as her fist was still steaming hot from the rate at which she had to punch Harry just to catch him off guard.

"…a knuckle-sandwich!" Yuffie yelled as Harry fell from his crater in the wall with a thud, "Honestly! You're leaving so fast, and you think you're getting a gift from me? Fat chance, doofus!"

"S-So… you _don't_ have a present for me…?" Harry asked as he got up on shaky legs and dust his clothes off while his mentors went about the task of fixing the shop back and repairing the damage.

"No, I'd never-"

"Yes she does." Leon cut in, growing annoyed while Aerith clapped her hands and nodded in agreement.

"She has it, but she wants to make this good-bye last a bit longer. She's afraid she may never see you again." Aerith explained as Harry nodded, stumbling somewhat as he gripped a nearby bookcase for support.

Damn did Yuffie have a hell of a right hook!

"Oh, that all?" Harry asked, trying to seem better than he felt.

"I am not afraid! I don't care if I ever see him again with his stupid face!" Yuffie said, very loudly for all to hear, as she glared up at Aerith's giggling face.

She had been so busy trying to burn a hole in Aerith's head (hoping she'd suddenly get heat-vision), that she didn't notice Harry limp over to where they were. It was only when he took her hand did she snap out of her actions and stare at their intertwined appendages. Looking up the arm that had clasped her own, Yuffie felt her face heat up at the breathtaking smile Harry was currently giving her. For reasons her ten year-old mind couldn't possibly fathom, that smile took away all her fears and doubts, leaving only her hopes and dreams to fill her being.

"Never fear, for Harry Potter is always near." Harry joked as he gave Yuffie's hand a tender squeeze which caused her breath to hitch, "No matter where I am, just look to the stars, and I'll know you're waiting for me. And if that don't calm your worries…" Harry trailed off as he dug into his pocket for something, pulling out a small black headband, "…then take this. It's my favorite one, and I'll be wanting it back someday."

"I don't want your stupid headband." Yuffie muttered unconvincingly, especially with the blush on her cheeks and the small smile on her face as Harry tied it to her forehead.

"Maybe, but gifts aren't always what ya want. Just remember, I'm always here with you; in your heart." Harry said with a bright smile as Yuffie shook her head.

"Not more of that hearts connected crap, Potter." Yuffie said, looking as though she had heard the line a million times.

"What young Harry says is true; between friends, and those of… greater connection, our hearts form a pathway between each other. So long as you believe you'll see him again, your heart and his shall be connected. Simply believe it in your heart, and he'll always be with you." Yen Sid said, his voice firm and yet soft at the same time as the others looked at him and his sagely wisdom.

"Now that all the gift-giving has been done with, let us go." DiZ said with a bandaged smile as he folded his hands behind his back, "Saying good-byes as of now is far too messy, for you shall all meet again someday. I know it in my heart to be true."

"I'll see you again… right? You and they aren't just spouting junk, right?" Yuffie said, gripping Harry's arm when he tried to walk away.

"Yeah, of course you will." Harry said, offering the young ninja girl another heart-felt smile.

"Then this is for you to return to me when I see you." Yuffie said, reaching behind her back as Harry flinched, expecting another punch, "Oh quit being such a baby! I'm not gonna hit you again, mood-killer!"

And then, from behind her back, Yuffie pulled a small box wrapped in a dull red ribbon done with a bow. Harry smiled truly as he accepted the gift, a blush appearing again on Yuffie's cheeks as her present left her hands and went to Harry's, their fingers brushing each other's as they did.

"It's nothing special like expensive gummi, cool clothes, or even a spell book, but you'll like it." Yuffie said, placing her hands on her hips and turning her nose up at Harry while he chuckled.

"It's not a dead rat again like last Christmas, is it?" Harry asked as he shook the box next to his ear.

"No! Just open it and find out!" Yuffie said, getting annoyed with Harry's laid-back and joking attitude.

"Fine, I will." Harry said tenderly taking the knot out of the bow and opening the small box.

Harry couldn't suppress the huge smile that came across his face as he reached into the little box and pulled out a scarf of the same dull red color in which the bow on the gift had been. Be careful to set the scarf aside, he reached into the box once again as he pulled out a photo of him and Yuffie.

In the photo, he had been chasing Yuffie in one of her messed-up games of tag in which she stole his music-player and ran off with it until he was able to catch her. Yuffie had the biggest grin on her face as in the background of the photo Harry was tripping over the uneven stones around the outskirts of Traverse Town while she was getting away.

Harry smiled honestly at the photo, pocketing it until he was able to acquire a frame for while he reached into the box a finally time, this time pulling out a charm-bracelet of some kind. It was made of odd bits and pieces as Harry held it up to the light of the store for examination. One piece looked like a shark tooth while another appeared to be a bent piece of copper.

Harry raised a brow at his final gift from Yuffie while Leon scowled at it.

"Just what the heck is it?" Leon asked as Yuffie's cheeks puffed out childishly.

"it's a charm bracelet, obviously. Gosh Leon, don't tell me your catching idiot from Harry Potter here." Yuffie said as Leon scoffed at her.

"I get that it's a charm bracelet, but what in the name of the Griever are the "charms" on it?" Leon asked, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the wall behind him and Aerith.

"Oh, that's easy!" Yuffie chirped happily as she pointed at the bracelet, "The first one is that shark tooth Harry got from when he punched out one of the sharks trying to get to me when we went swimming in the Traverse Town ocean that one time."

"Told you kids to stay away from there…" Merlin muttered as he shook his head.

"That piece of copper is from when we tried to be like Frankenstein. It was a piece we used from the lightning rod Harry made out of an old copper pipe." Yuffie said, pointing at the piece of bent metal.

"I remember that." DiZ said stroking his bandaged chin, "Yes… that was when I passed Harry on his magical manipulation test. Turning a copper pipe into a lightning rod of that size had been a remarkable feat."

"Thanks." Harry said, smiling sheepishly as he recalled that embarrassment of a misadventure.

"The glass bead is from when Harry was trapped in my playhouse for the day back when we were little." Yuffie said as Harry began banging his head against the nearest wall.

"I remember that!" Aerith recalled gleefully, "We dressed him up, and made him have tea with High Ninja Wellington!"

"We sure did." Yuffie nodded cheerfully as Harry started banging his head harder.

"Harry, how many times must I tell you that killing brain cells is not an appropriate form of self-punishment for landing yourself in whacky situations?" Merlin asked as Harry stooped banging his head long enough to level Merlin with a flat deadpan look.

"And how many times must I say that I do this in the hopes that some of the brain cells I kill will hold these memories and I'll forget any of these whacky situations ever happened?" Harry shot back as Merlin sighed, shaking his head and making his beard wobble.

"Anyways" Yuffie said, uncaring of Harry's brain damage, "The silver and gold beads are from when Harry tried his get-rich-quick scheme by turning all the metals in that pirate town to gold and silver."

"Oh, so I missed a few piece, did I?" Yen Sid asked as he glared at his young apprentice, eyeing the beads appraisingly before returning his severe gaze back to Yuffie.

"Yeah, but I think those were the only ones since I pocketed them before you started turning things back." Yuffie said with a dismissive wave of her hand, "The last thing is from that space rock that landed in town a couple of weeks ago."

"Hmm…" the three elders hummed in thought as they and everyone gazed intently upon the metallic-like rock bead on Harry's charm-bracelet.

"I thought the government took all the samples of that for study?" Cid said, scratching at his head as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Harry's "space rock" charm.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't be the greatest ninja ever if I didn't sneak away with a few samples myself." Yuffie said, puffing out her chest and laying a brave hand over her heart of valor.

"Nice." Leon commented as he too was impressed that she had been able to get away with entanglements with the universal government.

"I know." Yuffie replied as Harry glanced up at her.

"Thanks, Yuffie." Harry said as Yuffie felt her legs quiver beneath her.

"N-No problem…" Yuffie said, trying hard to cover up the weird things that were happening to her.

* * *

><p>"Now then." DiZ began after clearing his throat loudly to garner everyone's attention, "I think there is only one more thing to be done before we make our departure. Normally, I would be against this as we are now a bit pressed for time, but I think we can skip traffic to make up for lost time."<p>

With that said, Yen Sid nodded his head toward the shop counter, where a birthday cake and refreshments began to materialize as though they had always been there waiting for them to see. The candles of the cake lit a flame when Merlin winked at them. Crowded around Harry and his cake, the large group smiled as they all gathered 'round.

"Happy 11th Birthday, Harry!" Everyone cheered, some more atheistically than others, as Harry felt his cheeks grow hot with the attention of his good friends and mentors. He tried to duck his head away shyly, but Yuffie and Aerith were having none of that as they both enveloped him in a big crushing hug.

"Yeah… Happy Birthday to me…" Harry said as he blew out his candles, thoughts of what his home-world would truly be like filling his head.


	3. Shop 'til Ya Drop

**Sorry it took so long to put up this chapter, but I've been distracted by the most hilarious Harry Potter abridge series I've seen to date! It's funny as fuck, and fuck is a fucking comedy genius!**

**It's on ****YouTube**** and is created by **_**SpashTheBandragon**_** and you've gotta check after reading this chapter! I mean it! It's funny, witty, and satirical. They've already done the Harry Potter series all the way up to the Goblet of Fire, and I have never laughed so much from any other Harry Potter abridged series. Please, check it out!**

**Anyways, onto this chapter! Let's start the show!**

**Chapter 3: Shop 'til Ya Drop**

* * *

><p>"There it is, Harry. Your home planet." Yen Sid said as he pointed a wrinkly finger out the window toward the blue and green world below.<p>

"Whoa…" Harry said, seeing the planet, "Where can we land?"

"We can't land, but we have permission to teleport you into the magical subspace between Muggle London and Diagon Alley." Merlin said as DiZ piloted the Gummi-ship.

"Yen Sid and I won't be accompanying you, young Harry." DiZ said, "I am no longer permitted to step foot upon your world."

"Why's that?" Harry asked as DiZ got a sad look in his eyes.

"Sometime after we took you in, I went searching for interesting individuals. The magical government did not approve of my taking orphans off-world, so they have forbidden me from setting foot in their society on pain of imprisonment and execution." DiZ explained as Harry looked a bit saddened not to have two of his mentors with him for his first time on his home-world.

"Oh…" Harry said, "Well, that sucks…"

"Indeed." Yen Sid agreed with a curt nod, "I would not be much help in getting you ready for your schooling anyway. That is why Merlin shall be taking you."

"Okay." Harry accepted, knowing that his mentors had their reasons for everything they did.

"Well then, shall we?" Merlin said as he walked onto the teleportation platform.

"Yeah!" Harry said excited, the earlier conversation and his questions gone in the face of being on his home-world, "Let's go!"

* * *

><p>Harry and Merlin had been teleported directly outside the Merlin told Harry was the Leaky Cauldron. Merlin though, had been a little worried about being noticed, but was relieved when he felt the charms that kept people from seeing the building itself would also keep them from seeing the people materializing right outside of it. Harry felt the magic as well, and was even more excited as he practically pushed an indignant Merlin into the tavern so they could quickly get onto seeing the famous Diagon Alley which Merlin had shared stories about while they were traversing space.<p>

The bartender and owner of the tavern (which Merlin told him to refer to as a "pub" because "tavern" made it sound like a "shady place" in their wizarding culture), Tom, Merlin reminded Harry, was the only one to glance over at first.

"Now Harry, get ready for the fan surge." Merlin said as he rolled his eyes.

"Fan surge?" Harry asked as Merlin nodded.

"Yes, remember when I told you that you were famous on the way here?" Merlin asked as Harry nodded, "Well, you're more famous than you'd think."

"Just how famous?" Harry asked, a brow raised as Merlin sighed.

"Three… Two… One…" Merlin said, counting down on his fingers until the man Tom had dropped the glass he was wiping and the other patrons of the… pub took notice of the pair.

The people had quickly formed a mob around Harry, all trying to shake his hand and introduce themselves.

"Yeah… _that_ famous." Merlin said as Harry's mind was blown.

"And I thought the people of Agrabah worshiped me…" Harry thought as he cast a pleading glance to Merlin to get him away from the rabid fans.

Merlin, however, chuckled as he didn't seem to mind them at all. Though not one to make his apprentice take on more than he could handle, he convinced the people to form a line upon noticing that Harry was getting overwhelmed. It wasn't like Harry hadn't seen his mentors get mobbed by fans before, and he had even been standing next to them when it happened… on more than one occasion. Really, he still had the footprints on his back to prove it.

It was just that the fans had never been so intense for _him_ before. The people of Agrabah had all fallen to their knees and started bowing. This experience… well, it left his mind with a blank for a moment. Luckily, DiZ had taught him how to handle such situation, and so, calling upon the lesson, Harry was soon shaking hands with everyone and making sure to use their names in his brief conversation with them. According to DiZ, who had been a king at some point when Harry was too young to remember; people never expected anyone famous or royal to remember them, so it made a big impression when they did. Yen Sid had even helped Harry out, saying that even if he couldn't remember their names afterward, it would still be good to using their names, even seconds after hearing.

"So where to now?" Harry asked, straightening out his robes, "A concert held in my honor?"

"Oh goodness, no." Merlin laughed, "Just to the bank for your money."

"I have _money_?" Harry practically shouted, "But all those odd jobs I had to do while in Traverse Town-?"

"Bet you appreciate the value of hard-earned money now, huh?" Merlin teased as Harry looked enraged, "Plus, it also helped to show you the value of every piece you earned."

"But I have money!" Harry exclaimed, gripping at his hair in disbelief before shooting Merlin a quick look, "How much?"

"My guess would be… a lot." Merlin said, having remembered the Potter's as a well-off family.

"Yahoo!" Harry cheered, jumping high into the air as Merlin pulled him back down to Earth.

"Watch what you do, ward!" Merlin hissed harshly, "You can't show your training around these wizards! They don't know about what lies beyond the stars!"

"But they must have Heartless here." Harry insisted.

"Perhaps, but none so far as I've known." Merlin said, though the way he wouldn't meet Harry's eyes spoke volumes "Let's just get to the bank."

"These people have a bank?" Harry said looking around, "But they seem so… medieval."

"You'll see when we get there." Merlin said, and Harry pouted childishly as he crossed his arms.

* * *

><p>"Why are we standing in front of a trash can?" Harry asked as Merlin was running a hand along the brick wall, which sat behind the trash can.<p>

"To find our way, young ward." Merlin said, shooting Harry a stern look before he turned back to the wall, running his hand along it while muttering words.

"A magic doorway, Master?" Harry said respectfully, knowing that when Merlin was dealing with anything magical, he would not care for any tomfoolery or silliness.

"Yes, my young apprentice. One that is nearly as old as I am." Merlin said, his tone once again gentle and tame.

"You've been here before, right?" Harry asked as Merlin nodded.

"Long ago. The last I was here was a few weeks after you had been taken in by DiZ and Yen Sid." Merlin said before a bright look passed along his face, "There we are! No one, not even today can get the better of me with protections I myself helped setup."

"You created this?" Harry asked, gesturing to the wall as Merlin nodded.

"Yes, long _long_ ago." Merlin replied, holding a hand out, "Give me my cane, ward."

"Here you are." Harry said, picking up the walking stick and handing it to his mentor.

"Now then, remember this, ward." Merlin said, "They only change it every century, but by then you'll be able to detect the correct patterns."

"I'm listening, Master." Harry said, focusing on Merlin's next words as Merlin pointed his cane at the wall.

"Three up… two across…" Merlin muttered, giving a glance at Harry to be sure he was paying attention, "Right then, stand back, Harry."

Harry did as he was told, while watching as Merlin tapped the wall three times with the point of his cane. The brick Merlin had touched quivered, and it wriggled in the middle as a small hole appeared. The hole grew wider and wider before Harry's eyes. And then, a second later, he and Merlin were facing an archway large enough for even a giant to step through. The archway led onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.

"Welcome, Harry, to Diagon Alley." Merlin said, grinning at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway with Harry looking quickly over his shoulder to see the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.

"Three up, two across… Got it." Harry muttered as Merlin smiled.

The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons of all sizes, there were. Some of copper, brass, pewter, silver. Some self-stirring, some collapsible. It was all read on a sign hanging over them.

"Yeah, you'll need one for your classes." Merlin said as he saw Harry staring at the sign, "But remember, first we have to get you your money."

Harry wished he had about eight more eyes as he turned his head in every direction while they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman with auburn hair outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver! For sixteen Sickles an ounce! They're barking mad, they are…!"

A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium — Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it.

"Look…!" Harry heard one of them say, "The new Nimbus Two Thousand; fastest ever!"

There were shops selling robes. Shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before. Windows were stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes. Some with tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon…

"There it is, young ward! Gringotts, the Wizarding World bank!" Merlin said as he pointed, with Harry whirling his head around.

They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops around it like a superpower. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was —

"Yes, Harry, a goblin." Merlin said quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. The goblin was about two heads shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside with Merlin and Harry inclining their heads to him in polite respect. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:

_**Enter, stranger, but take heed**_

_**Of what awaits the sin of greed,**_

_**For those who take, but do not earn,**_

_**Must pay most dearly in their turn.**_

_**So if you seek beneath our floors**_

_**A treasure that was never yours,**_

_**Thief, you have been warned, beware**_

_**Of finding more than treasure there.**_

"Nice poem." Harry quipped as Merlin shook his head.

"More than just a poem, my young ward." Merlin said, "Remember to be respectful and polite. Goblins are a rather… bold breed, but they're clever, and make for great allies in times of need. They only show respect when given it in return, and trust my judgment when I say; it'll make your times in the bank much more pleasant."

"I've always trusted your judgment, Master." Harry said as Merlin smiled.

"I know, but just to be safe…" Merlin said, trailing off.

"Someone would have to be a complete idiot to try and rob this place." Harry muttered to Merlin as a pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors. They walked through into a vast marble hall where about a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of them.

"A fool, yes, but powerful to even attempt such an act, none the less." Merlin said with a grimace, as though he were recalling such an experience himself.

When Harry and Merlin made it to the counter, they came upon a large man with a large brown coat which held many pockets.

"Morning!" said the large man to them before he looked at Harry, "Ah! Harry! Glad you made it! Professor Dumbledore said you'd be comin' here soon!"

"I'm sorry, Mr…?"

"Just call me Hagrid. I was there when yeh went off, ya know. Didn't have nothin' to give yer, ya see. So, when Professor Dumbledore asked fer a volunteer to help yeh here, I came runnin'."

"That's nice. Thank you, Hagrid." Harry said politely.

"Oh, right." Hagrid said as though he had almost forgotten something, "Yeh key. You'll be needin' that."

"My key?" Harry echoed in confusion, glancing up at Merlin just as the ancient wizard face-palmed himself.

"Confound it! I knew I was forgetting _something_!" Merlin muttered from behind his hand as Harry sighed.

Merlin sighed to himself as he looked up, seeing a free goblin.

"Well let's get this over with." Merlin muttered, putting on a bright smile, "Hello good sir. We've come to make a withdrawal from young Mr. Harry Potter's safe."

Goblin looked up from it's work, and his eyes widened as he seemed to recognize Merlin, but Merlin merely winked at the goblin, who colored and cleared his throat in a show to regain himself.

"Do you have Mr. Harry Potter's key, sir?" the goblin asked as he glanced at Harry, who smiled shyly at the sizing look.

"Got it here somewhere…" Hagrid said as he started emptying his pockets onto the counter.

"Allow me, Mr. Hagrid." Merlin said quickly. With that, he raised a hand, from one of the deep pockets on Hagrid's coat came a tiny golden key which flew to Merlin's hand.

Hagrid, however, had already scattered a handful of moldy dog biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers from his first pocket. The goblin wrinkled his nose as Harry watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals.

"Another lesson, ward." Merlin said, nudging Harry to pay attention while he gestured toward Hagrid, "Messing with the goblins gets you nothing but trouble. Now with his goof up, we're not going to get a good cart now…" Merlin whispered to Harry, who raised a brow at Merlin's grimacing.

"What do you mean, Master?" Harry asked as Merlin sighed, placing hand on Harry's shoulder while the goblin was looking at the closely and intently.

"Two words, Harry: one speed." Merlin said as the goblin finally nodded.

"This seems to be in order." the goblin said as Hagrid stepped up to him, towering over the diminutive creature. Merlin seemed to groan as though Hagrid were only making things worst. Harry had the feeling that he was by reminding the small goblin that he was in fact very small, even with the stool he sat on.

"An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore." Hagrid said importantly, throwing out his chest, "It's about the You-Know-What in Vault #713."

Merlin groaned as he saw the curious look over taken his young apprentice, knowing the boy would do just about anything to find out what was so secretive.

"No trouble, ward." Merlin said sternly.

"None at all." Harry replied, not even bothering to look innocent in front of his eldest teacher.

The goblin read the letter Hagrid had given him carefully.

"Very well." the goblin said, handing the letter back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"

Griphook was yet another goblin.

* * *

><p>Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog biscuits back inside his pockets, Merlin, Hagrid, and Harry followed Griphook toward one of the doors leading off the hall.<p>

"So, Hagrid, what's the You-Know-What in Vault #713?" Harry asked, playing it smooth.

"Can't tell yeh that." Hagrid said mysteriously while Merlin looked to want to bang his head against something, "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."

Griphook held the door open for them. Harry, who had expected more marble, was a bit surprised when they were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled as a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. Harry gawked at it as he looked around at the sudden group.

"That is not going to hold us all, Mr. Griphook." Harry said as he cast a look at the cart and Hagrid.

"Not to worry, sir. Goblin magic is very resourceful." Griphook said while gazing up at Harry as though he were something strange, and then at Merlin as though the man was a hero. Merlin merely gave another of his sly winks as they climbed into the cart, though Hagrid did so with some difficulty.

And they were off.

At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. While Harry tried to remember them all. Left, right, right, left, middle fork to the right, left, but it was near impossible.

Merlin saw Harry watching every turn and huffed, remembering all the times he had done the same thing in his youth, "It's impossible to remember, ward. They have goblin protections to see to that."

"Right you are, sir." Griphook said, grinning like a madman as Harry gulped, looking back at the goblin.

It was then that Harry noticed that the rattling cart must have been guided magically, because Griphook wasn't steering.

Harry's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but he kept them wide open. Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was from a dragon, but he did so too late.

"Still using dragons, hmm…" Merlin said, stroking his beard as he glanced at Griphook, who grinned even more than before.

"Perhaps…" Griphook replied.

They had plunged even deeper into the cavern, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.

"I never can recall…" Harry called to Merlin over the noise of the cart, "… what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"

"Stalagmite's got an "M" in it." Hagrid said as Merlin scoffed.

"It's much more than that, good sir." Merlin said, turning to Harry, "Stalagmites rise up from the cavern floor forming M-like slopes between them. Stalactites hang from the cavern roof."

"Like W's." Harry said as Merlin nodded.

"Please don' be talkin' much mer, or askin' any mer questions just now. I think I'm gonna be sick." Hagrid said as the other three turned to him.

"Well, you do seem a little green…" Harry said, wincing as he noticed Hagrid's color.

* * *

><p>Hagrid looked <em>very<em> green when the cart had finally stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall. Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his enormous knees from trembling like leaves in the wind.

Griphook unlocked the small door. A lot of green smoke billowed out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped while Merlin shrugged as though he had seen such a sight plenty of times.

For behind the little door were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze ones, too!

"Holy Hades, Mother of Hot Damn!" Harry swore as he gazed at the room literally filled with what was apparently lots of money.

"All yours, ward." Merlin said as Hagrid nodded.

"Yup, all yer's." Hagrid echoed with a smile.

All his. Harry could hardly believe it! Master Yen Sid couldn't have possible known about the money, or Harry would have had to do tons more lessons on how "Munny Saved, was Munny Earned" and all that bull-crap. Still, he just couldn't seem to comprehend the fact that all the time he was made to do odd jobs around Traverse Town, and put up with incredibly rude people, there had been a small fortune which belonged to him; buried deep under a city.

"Let's make this quick before he starts drooling." Merlin said as Harry barely heard him, shaking his head free of his disbelieving thoughts while diving into the literal pool of currency.

"I've always wanted to do this! And now I can… with _my_ _own_ money!" Harry said, laughing hysterically as he swan through his funds.

"Oh come now, ward! This is only the trust fund for your schooling." Merlin said as Harry came back up to surface in his money pool, his eyes wide and his mouth agape.

"There's _more_?" Harry asked, currency signs of different ranges flashing through his eyes.

"Yes, now get out of there." Merlin said as Harry swam back to him… through _money_! Harry was just having too much fun reminding himself that it was all for him and no one else.

Hagrid and Merlin helped Harry pile some of it into Harry's bottomless bag, his birthday gift from Merlin. Ya know, even though he had to do the enchantment _himself_.

"The gold ones are Galleons." Merlin explained as he waved his wand, making coins fly into the bag, "17 silver Sickles make one Galleon, while 29 bronze Knuts to equal one silver Sickle."

"Sounds easy enough." Harry said, "Though Munny was way easier because it all pretty much the base currency with no other forms. It was just straight Munny."

"Yeah, but here is different because this world isn't connected." Merlin whispered as Hagrid stood up, stretching his back from picking up coins.

"Right, that should be enough fer the year. The goblins'll keep the rest safe for yeh." Hagrid said.

"Don't worry, Harry." Merlin said, "I'll create a link between yourself, your bag, and this account later today while we shop."

"Thanks, Master." Harry said, smiling as Merlin chuckled.

Hagrid turned to Griphook, "Vault #713 now, please, and can we go more slowly?"

"One speed only, sir." Griphook said as though he had been asked hundreds of times.

Hagrid was back to looking ill as they started going even deeper into the underground caverns, gaining speed as they did. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners while making sharp turns. They went rattling over an underground ravine, and Harry leaned over the side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom, but Merlin yelped and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck, doing so with surprising strength that Harry had never known his eldest mentor to possess physically.

"You could fall out, ward!" Merlin scolded as he gave Harry a severe look, "That there was the Crook's Chasm. If you were a thief while passing over it, you would have fallen in thinking that whatever you wanted to steal was at the bottom."

"So what is at the bottom, Master?" Harry asked as Merlin sighed.

"It's a near-ending fall so long as the goblins want it to be. No one but the goblins truly know what's at the bottom of it. Not even I know, ward." Merlin said as Harry cast a curious glance at Griphook, who grinned at him making the hairs on the back of Harry's neck stand up.

* * *

><p>When they reached it, Harry saw immediately that Vault #713 had no keyhole like his own vault had.<p>

"Stand back." Griphook said importantly as he walked up to the vault, stroking the door gently with one of his long fingers while it simply appeared to melt away. Like, literally melt away!

Harry had believed thought he was pretty good at magic already, but he was seeing that he still had much to learn compared to the knowledge of centuries in the practice. In fact, Harry mused as he glanced up at his mentor Merlin, he was damn sure that he hadn't learned even a fraction of all which Merlin knew from his timeless years in the practice of sorcery.

But he would one day, he swore it.

"Though this thing must be a top security vault." Harry mused in thought as he looked to Griphook.

"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there." Griphook explained as Harry paled.

"Umm… Griphook, question: If people get sucked in there and trapped, just how often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked nervously as Griphook turned to him with a gleam in his beady black eyes.

"About once every ten years, or so." Griphook answered with his nastiest of grins. Harry felt a shiver overtake him while he tried to get the image of Griphook out of his mind.

Why he would do so, you may ask? Because he was sure it would be the bane of his dreams and the boon of his nightmares from that day forth.

Though, in trying to distract himself, Harry assumed that something really extraordinary, valuable, and perhaps even _powerful_, had to be inside this top security vault. Of that, Harry was sure as he leaned forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels; at the very least.

Gazing inside, Harry blinked when he had first thought it was empty. Then, when he was taking a second scan, he noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor.

Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat while Harry longed to know what it was, but seeing the stern look on Master Merlin's face, he knew better than to ask or face a lump on his precious noggin.

And Harry liked his noggin the way it was, thank you!

"Come on, back in this infernal cart…" Hagrid grumbled before he sent Harry a fierce look, "And don't yeh be talkin' to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut; about _all_ things." Hagrid finished as he glanced at Merlin, nodding.

* * *

><p>One wild cart ride later, they all stood blinking in the light of the marble hall while Merlin took care of some business with the goblins. After ten minutes, they were blinking again, but this time in the sunlight outside Gringotts.<p>

Harry didn't know where to run first, now that he had a bag filled with more gold than most people had ever seen in their lifetimes. He didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to Munny to know that he was holding more money than he'd had before in his whole life; more money than even DiZ had… when the man was being generous with his pocketbook.

"Might as well get your uniforms, ward." Merlin said as he guided Harry toward a shop.

"Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions… Sounds fancy…" Harry commented as Merlin shrugged.

"It used to be an armory when I went to school at Hogwarts." Merlin said, then saw the look of Harry's face, "I'll tell you more about that later. For now, stay focused on your needs rather than your own curiosity."

"If you say so, Master." Harry said as Merlin patted his shoulder.

Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.

"Hogwarts, dear?" the pleasant witch asked, when Harry walked in.

"Oh yes!" Merlin said proudly, "He's in need of an entire wardrobe of robes. Black, size and age: twelve, billowing effect three."

"What?" Harry asked, lost on what Merlin was prattling on about while Madam Malkin looked like the ancient wizard was her new favorite customer, royalty and made of gold.

"Well, we've got a lot here, and I was fitting another young man for his own robes… but… I suppose this is a more… _pressing_ job that demands my personal full attention."

"Oh good!" Merlin chirped, clapping his hands together, "Maybe Harry will make a new friend… or at least have someone to sit with on the wagon…"

"Master…" Harry groaned, feeling embarrassed that the man was talking about him like he was the guy's granddaughter or something.

"Run along, Harry." Merlin said as he pushed Harry away toward where Madam Malkin wanted him in the back while never gazing away from the witch, "Now let's talk materials and charms…"

Harry sighed to himself as he walked to the back of the shop. In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale and pointed face was standing on atop a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin came toward them after a scant minute with a beaming Merlin right behind her. She stood Harry atop a stool next to the blond boy before slipping a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length.

"Hello." the boy greeted, "Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes." Harry answered, wincing as a pin poked him in the thigh.

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands." the boy said as Merlin raised a brow.

"From what I know, your mother is wasting her time." Harry said, glancing at Merlin, "Apparently the wand choices the wizard, or something…"

"Yeah, but it keeps her busy from bothering me and trying to put me in frilly shirt." the boy said, "After this I'm going to drag both my parents off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first-years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and smuggle it in somehow."

"People normally don't check luggage, so if you shrink it, you can." Harry said, smiling before Merlin slapped him in the back of his head.

"Stop teaching children how to smuggle things!" Merlin scolded as Harry snickered, watching as the blond smirked at their antics.

"Do you own a broom?"

"Not my own. I use my mentor's broom." Harry replied.

"Oh. Play Quidditch?" the blond asked as Harry blinked.

"Play what now?" Harry said as Merlin sighed.

"Magical sport of silliness. Remember. I had you play it with your little friends."

"Oh right!" Harry said, snapping his fingers, "Apparently I'm a good tiny gold ball catcher."

"Seeker." Merlin deadpanned.

"Seeker." Harry echoed, correcting his earlier statement.

"Right…" the blond boy drawled, his eyebrow raised, "Well, I'm a good Seeker as well. Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"

"House of what?" Harry asked as Merlin smacked his face.

"I told you about all of this! How could you forget?" Merlin yelled in disbelief.

"I think I forgot about everything you say in light of the literal mountain of gold in my trust vault, and the fact that it's all mine; which I swam in." Harry deadpanned as Merlin face-faulted.

"Umm…" the boy said.

"Houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff." Merlin said quickly as Harry thought, rubbing his chin.

"Hmm… I think I'll be in Gryffindor. All that others sound like diseases." Harry said with a smile as the blond blinked owlishly at him.

"Well… I'm going to be in Slytherin, all my family has been there." Draco said proudly as Harry shrugged.

"Well, that's cool, if you're into that sort of thing. Ya know? Following tradition and having your name synonymous with this Syphilis-

"Slytherin!" Merlin corrected.

"Whatever." Harry shrugged, "The point is, you should go to any of the disease-named houses you want to, not because your family went there."

"I think my father would disown me if I were to be in any other house." the blond said slowly before he grinned, "Especially Hufflepuff, though I think I'd leave the school if that were to happen."

"Hufflepuff? What, is that some kinda mutated fish or marshmallow?" Harry asked as Merlin sighed while Madam Malkin made her presence known with a giggle.

"Ward…" Merlin muttered behind his hand, which was currently in his face.

"Right, Pigfarts house-"

"Hogwarts, ward!" Merlin corrected while Madam Malkin seemly enjoyed Harry's annoying antics. The blond boy smirked a little as he glanced at Merlin's muttering form.

"I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." the blond said with an outstretched hand. Harry shrugged as he gripped the boy's hand in a firm handshake.

"I'm Potter, Harry Potter." Harry said as Draco Malfoy's jaw dropped and his grey eyes widened in disbelief. Then the blond's gaze suddenly shot up to where Harry's scar was hidden behind his hair, "If you wanna see my scar, all you have to do is ask." Harry said with mirth evident in his tone.

"Please." Draco said as Harry chuckled, brushing aside his hair to show his lightning bolt-shaped scar. Merlin merely shook his head at his student's nonchalant attitude, but couldn't fault him for it. The boy was just naturally friendly.

Draco continued to stare at the scar with his mouth agape in shock for a long pause before he finally gathered his composure once more.

"Well now, I'm embarrassed." Draco Malfoy said as Harry chuckled again.

"Calm down, no harm done." Harry said, waving the boy's embarrassment and blatant gawking aside casually.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You just did, but go ahead." Harry smiled as Draco flushed.

"Were you…? Did you…?" Malfoy began, but hesitated before taking a deep breath, "Were you _really_ raised by Muggles like they say?"

"Muggles?" Harry echoed in confusion.

"Non-magical folk, ward." Merlin explained, "Again, I told you all this on the way here."

"Again; I forgot it all in light of the money pool." Harry countered before smiling at Draco. Then, he tapped his chin,, trying to think of how to phrase what he was about to say, "Well… I guess not, since all of my mentors can use some form of magical power. So, no, I wasn't raised by these Muggles you speak of. I was raised by a King, and two wizards for most of my life, though."

"Well good." Draco sniffed, "I've heard living with Muggles is simply dreadful. I can't even imagine it. I don't even think that they should let the other sort into Hogwarts, do you? I think that they should keep it in the old wizarding families."

"Huh?" Harry said in confusion, turning his head to Merlin.

"He means purebloods." Merlin gruffed out, rolling his eyes, "The other sort are Muggle-Borns and Half-Bloods. You get the picture."

"Yes, I do." Harry said his tone crisp and sharp as he raised a brow at Draco, "Master, wasn't my mother a Muggle-born?"

"Yes she was, ward." Merlin said, seeing where Harry was going with it. Almost instantly, Draco colored crimson and began stammering.

"And wouldn't it be basically incest to the _extreme_ if only these prejudice people known as "old wizarding families" kept magic to themselves and tried to pass it along to only others like them?"

"Yes it would." Merlin nodded, looking a little green at the mental images.

"Besides, what makes these so called Purebloods better than anyone else. What makes them entitled to magic and no one else? I'm sure that if magic wanted to stay with the old wizarding families, it wouldn't have spread to others at random." Harry mused aloud as Merlin shook his head with a smirk, "In fact, I think magic has done you a favor, Draco Malfoy. It's made sure that you weren't born impaired and without a hunchback. Thank magic for not making you a moron, Draco."

"Th-Thank you, magic." was all Draco could say as he stared at Harry.

"Good Draco. Magic says you're welcome." Harry said, patting Draco's head as Madam Malkin laughed aloud.

"You're all done, dear." Madam Malkin managed to say through her fits of laughter.

"Thank you, Madam." Harry and Merlin said.

Harry turned back to Draco, only to see the blonde's mouth opened and closed a couple of times as his mind processed what Harry had just said. Finally, the blond took a deep calming breath before his face took on a contemplative look. It was almost as if the boy had never considered thinking for himself before today.

"So… Should we pay you now, or…?" Harry asked, remembering his experiences with buying clothes from other shop owners on other worlds. Some had wanted payment when the order was picked up, and some wanted it upfront then and there.

"Oh, dear!" the witch replied, smiling at him, "You can pay when you come by to pick them up. They should be done in about an hour or so."

"Madam, we insist to pay you this moment." Merlin said, "We simply won't take no for an answer."

Harry gave his master a look, but was met by one from the wizened wizard, who gestured to pay now. When Harry reached for his money pouch, it was then that he understood what Merlin wanted to do. The old man was a sly one, Harry gave him that. Merlin wanted to be sure that the pouch was working correctly, connected to Harry's trust vault and to be sure that it was limitless.

"How much, Lady Malkin?" Harry asked as he took out his empty-looking pouch.

"Oh… Umm… Let's see here…" Madam Malkin said as she took out a parchment, "That'll be… 125 galleons for the entire wardrobe."

"The gold ones, correct?" Harry asked as he opened his pouch, and at her nod, Harry thought of the amount he needed.

But then, instead of golden coins, Harry felt a piece of paper in his hand when he reached into the pouch. Pulling it out, and handing it to his mentor first, Merlin adjusted his glasses to better read the parchment which Harry handed him.

"This seems in order, ward." Merlin said, nodding as he handed the paper off to madam Malkin, "You see, Gringotts doesn't do coins over one hundred Galleons, so they have drafts and checks for that. The moment you took that paper from your pouch, that amount of gold was taken from your account."

"Sounds like the Moogles… Cheeky things…" Harry said with a click of his teeth.

"Yes they are." Merlin said, "Come on now, ward. Much more shopping to do. Much more…"

"Coming, Master." Harry said as he turned back to give Madam Malkin's his thanks once more, and then to say goodbye to Draco before sweeping out of the shop after Merlin.

* * *

><p>As they stepped back onto Diagon Alley, Merlin waved his hand, and Harry's school list came from his robe pocket. Merlin allowed it to float in his peripheral vision while glancing over it.<p>

"We have your uniforms being tailored, so now we your books, your truck, other equipment, and of course; your wand." Merlin said before the list rolled into itself and went back to Harry, who opened his pocket for the thing to settle it.

"Do I really need a wand? I can do magic find with my hands." Harry nearly whined as Merlin rolled his eyes.

"But of course you need a wand, ward! You rely on a musical tempo and my own cane far too much. Besides, having a wand of your own was like a right of passage when I was a young lad first learning. It'll help increase your own magical potential and your abilities to focus your already impressive powers." Merlin said, turning to Harry with a gentle smile, "You have yet to reach your magical maturity, and so with your powers already being so strong, just imagine how much better you'll be once you've wielded a wand for a few years."

"How strong do you think I'll be?" Harry asked as Merlin pondered the thought.

"Perhaps powerful enough to rival Yen Sid and myself…" Merlin said after a moment of thinking.

Harry stared at his mentor in shock. That powerful! He would have never believed such a thing. Yen Sid and Merlin were the two most powerful wizards in all of time and space. In all of existence! There was only one other sorcerer- other rather sorceress which could contest to their power. Harry felt shivers run down his spine from even thinking of the woman who commanded power so great and terrible.

If Merlin believed he'd grow that powerful with the help of a wand, then Harry didn't object anymore.

"So what are we getting first?" Harry asked as Merlin raised a brow, having obviously expected more of a reaction than the simple surprised look that overtaken Harry's face for those few moments he was thinking.

"I'm glad you're now taking this more seriously, ward." Merlin said, "Because we'll need your help in the future. We're getting a bit too old to be saving the worlds. You understand that one day in the near future, you will be our successor, correct?"

"I understand, Master." Harry said sincerely, his gaze dropping to his feet as he thought of just how old the two wizards were. Truly they deserved to live out the rest of their days in peace. Harry would more than gladly take over if they got the chance.

"Well then, we'll collect you a truck first so you'll have something to put all your things in while we're shopping." Merlin said, glancing over Harry's reaction to what he revealed. It was true, he and Yen Sid needed a successor more than ever in their titles as supreme sorcerers. Yen Sid had even been contemplating having Harry take over the Mysterious Tower while he went into an even more reclusive retirement. Merlin would be lying if he said that he was not planning to join the man and let Harry have his properties as well.

Besides, _she_ was still a spry young woman compared to them. They were simply too old to combat _her_ anymore, and they knew it…

* * *

><p>The rest of the walk to the trunk store was passed in silence. The trunk store was surprisingly not anywhere near as crowded as Harry would have thought. In fact, even Merlin was a bit surprised that they were the only customers there at the moment.<p>

"What can I do you for, gentlemen?" the storekeeper asked, making Harry think of his old friend Cid, "Do you need a trunk for Hogwarts? You're a bit early in the game, but that just means I've got plenty to choose from."

"Yes, sir." Merlin said respectfully, "We're looking for one with particularly strong magic-resistant locks, but still able to be charmed by the owner. Do you have anything like that?"

The storekeeper chuckled, "Oh, brother. Listen, I don't think the kid needs to worry about anything like that at Hogwarts." the storekeeper said, obviously having taken Merlin's request as a joke.

What the man should have realized was, when it came to magic; Merlin did _not_ joke.

Seeing this on their faces, the guy's smirk slowly faded from his face. Harry raised a brow at him, and the man sighed as he frowned.

"Fine, it's your money anyway…" the guy grumbled, making Harry smile. This guy was like Diagon Alley's version of Cid.

The man turned around and began to head toward the back of the store, making a gesture for them to follow.

"Come, we keep the really strong stuff back here." the guy said as Merlin and Harry exchanged looks before following the man to the back of the store where the trunks did indeed appear to be stronger. Harry could almost feel the magic surrounding them.

The storekeeper stopped in front of the back wall and rested his hand upon what appeared to be a simple luggage trunk, not much larger than Harry's own one that he had now in his pocket.

"This is a fairly simple appearing trunk. However, its lock is one of the strongest available. The lock is made out of pure magic-enhanced silver. It is impervious to all currently known unlocking spells, from the weakest to the most powerful. It's unbreakable and just generally spelled to be able to be opened only by the owner." the guy said, tapped what appeared to be a solid piece of metal that was over where the lock should have been before running a hand over the leather of luggage trunk, "The exterior is also enchanted to be unbreakable and there's a permanent feather-light charm on the trunk."

Harry looked at the trunk, mulling over whether or not to get it. He knew that he and Merlin (though mostly Merlin) could put charms and enchantments on any trunk and it would be just as good, but he wanted to splurge a bit with his newfound wealth. Obviously, that was what Merlin was allowing him to do by having taken him to get a high-security trunk anyway.

So with that in mind, Harry finally nodded to Merlin, who nodded back in agreement.

"Alright then, this'll do nicely." Harry said as the merchant blinked in shock, his entire demeanor showing that he obviously he hadn't actually expected Harry and Merlin to buy such a trunk.

"Err… Right… You are the customer, after all…" the man said slowly, "But just to warn you; once you officially own the trunk you will not be able to return it, nor will anyone else be able to open it unless you sell it or give it to them permanently. That also means that only your magic will be able to work on it."

"That's fine." Merlin assured, "He will be keeping it for quite some time."

"The price of the trunk is 57 galleons." the guy said Harry got out his money pouch.

"Is that cheap, because that doesn't sound cheap." Harry said as he reached into the pouch and felt a mass of coins meet his fingers.

"No, that's not cheap at all." Merlin said, "Think of it this way; you could feed all of Traverse Town a full three-course meal with 150 galleons."

"Well that's not cheap at all." Harry snarked as they walked back to the front of the store to make the purchase. Harry dumped the pouch free of it's contents, watching with a smirk as the salesmen's face turned nearly gleeful at having made such an amazing sale.

"Alright then, kid- I mean sir!" the man said, sounding much brighter and respectful as he pocketed the money, "Please place your thumb on the latch and I'll perform the ownership transference charm. A guidebook on how to perform it should you wish to give the trunk to someone else is inside."

Once Harry had placed his thumb to the cool metal, the storekeeper pulled out his wand. He began murmuring incantations under his breath, waving his wand in a complicated pattern as he did so. Merlin watched on with his lips perched in the manner that told Harry he was analyzing the spell work being done. Finally, the man tapped Harry's thumb gently with the tip of his wand.

As soon as the wand made contact with his skin, Harry felt a shiver run through him, signifying that the magical transfer was taking place.

"Well, that's done. Now whenever you want to open the trunk, simply press your thumb to the lock or open it magically with your own magic."

Harry nodded and withdrew his hand. This was good; no one would be able to break into trunk now. The only person that might be able to would be Merlin, but even then Harry was sure the old wizard would hurt himself trying.

Then there was the fact that neither Harry nor Merlin honestly expected anyone to try and break into his trunk. But, Harry figured Merlin wanted him to be better safe than sorry. And so with that in mind, Harry lifted the trunk with one hand, him and Merlin leaving the shop.

* * *

><p>The rest of Harry's shopping passed by quite quickly. Before Harry knew it, he'd already bought all of his needed parchment, quills, and ink, including a bottle of Self-Correcting ink that'd caught Merlin's eye. Harry had also bought the required telescope, cauldron, crystal phials, brass scales, as well as a lunar-scope, which showed the phases of the moons.<p>

Merlin was proving to be just as interested in things as Harry was. The both of them comparing things to how they were on other worlds. Merlin seemed to also be recalling his own memories in dealing with Diagon Alley.

"You know, ward, Diagon Alley was created around the time of my own schooling at Hogwarts." Merlin said as browsed the shelves of the bookstore.

"Really?" Harry asked, as he looked through the open space at his mentor.

"Oh yes, circa 994 A.D!" Merlin said proudly as Harry blanched, "It was a big hit when the Gringotts Bank appeared there after the Goblin-Wizard treaty was signed. I got one of the first vaults to be created. Then came the shops to do business around it, and then Ollivanders' family Wand Shop moved from Wales after Helga Hufflepuff did a few years previous. From there, it became the place to go for all things wizard."

"Wow…" Harry said as Merlin smiled before both continued on looking at books.

Harry and Merlin must have spent nearly an entire hour inside the book store. It took only a minute to get Harry's required school books, but after that the two wandered around the store, picking up just about any book that looked as though they'd be able to help him. Merlin, however, was also looking for some light reading.

"Oh just look at this." Merlin said, dropping a tome in front of Harry, "These young whippersnappers use my name for everything!"

Harry glanced at the title of the book, _Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charms: As Written By Merlin Himself_ and whistled.

"Well, technically speaking, you're supposed to be dead, not time-traveling." Harry said as Merlin's normally calm demeanor turned annoyed, his face brightening red in anger.

"That doesn't make these things right, ward! They're falsifying documents in my name just to sell them!" Merlin raved as Harry picked up the large tome and leafed through it.

"Chapter 23: Enchantments by the Prince of Enchanter Himself…" Harry read as Merlin snatched the book from him.

"I'll get these blasted fools for this!" Merlin said, waving the book around menacingly, "I'll go through this entire book and correct. Then I'll shove it down the throat of whoever wrote it."

"That would be… E. Limus." Harry said, looking at the spine of the book, "Apparently he got a hold of some of your notes on charm work and wrote the book as you."

"Well, he'll pay." Merlin said, a fire burning in his eyes.

"Okay…" Harry said, sweat-dropping over his teacher's antics.

* * *

><p>Once Harry had purchased all of his selections, though the man was more preoccupied with being sure Merlin didn't curse anyone and staring oddly at some of the titles Harry wanted, Harry had placed all of them away in his new trunk, which was beginning to get fairly full. Though thankfully Harry had long ago learned how to make objects bottomless.<p>

"Alright then, next stop: the Apothecary." Merlin said, with Harry's school list checking itself off before rolling up and flying back into Harry's robe pocket.

"Yup, all that's left is my Potions ingredients." Harry said smiling. He liked Potions, mainly because it was so much like the Synthesizing that the Moogles did with all the gems and stones Harry collected. Harry knew that in his personal trunk, he had collected an impressive amount of synthesis materials. He hoped that he'd be able to find some free time to try out synthesizing himself with the book he had gone earlier in the year from a group of Moogles he had saved.

"Come along ward, to the Malfoy Apothecary." Merlin said as they passed an Apothecary, which made Harry turn to look at it before following his mentor.

"Master, we just passed an Apothecary. Why go to this Malfoy one? And wasn't Malfoy that kid from Madam Malkin's last name?" Harry said as Merlin nodded.

"Ward, you do not go to just any Apothecary for your potion ingredients!" Merlin scolded as Harry walked beside him, "Just any old place will give you bad goods without knowing what's good and what's bad. No, ward, we go for quality in the field of Potions. You, I, and anyone with good taste/senses shop at the Malfoy Apothecary." Merlin finished as Harry nodded.

"But wasn't that Draco kid's last name Malfoy?" Harry repeated Merlin nodded.

"Yes, and he just might give us a discount." Merlin said, chuckling as he rang his hands evilly.

"I worry for you, Master…" Harry deadpanned as he followed the ancient wizard.

The inside of the Malfoy Apothecary was just as strange, fascinating, and smelly as it was lavish, refined, and captivating. Harry was sure he'd never grow tired of seeing it when he'd visit in the future. The first thing that they did when inside was go straight to the front counter for a supply of basic potion ingredients.

* * *

><p>"Hello, and welcome to the Malfoy Family Apothecary." a beauty woman greeted as she came down stairs, "I am Narcissa Malfoy, and I'd like to greet all those who know that the Malfoy Apothecary is only for the best of good wizarding ingredients."<p>

Narcissa Malfoy was tall, slim, and nice looking woman. Her skin was very pale. She had blue eyes with long blonde hair, and a clear, cultivated voice.

"They're having some sort of a sale." Harry noted as the woman descended into the store, "That's the only time owners ever come around."

"Yes, yes…" Merlin said, glancing between Narcissa Malfoy and a fine collection of silver unicorn horns.

"Hello gentlemen." the woman greeted as she moved through the crowd, "I am Narcissa Malfoy. And you are?"

"I am his mentor." Merlin greeted back, his old looks set in a regal way that Harry had rarely ever seen the kind, and hearty old wizard appear. That told Harry that he had to make a good impression on this woman, because Merlin was, and if anyone knew Merlin; he didn't try very often to seem impressive.

"And your young charge?" Narcissa said, her eyes landing on Harry as he smiled charmingly up at her. He causally brushed the bang of hair to uncover his scar while Narcissa gasped slightly, her eyes widening much life Draco's had. Could the woman before him be Draco's mother, aunt, older sister? It would make sense…

"I am Harry Potter, Madam." Harry said, a smooth bow to his even smoother tone. He took the woman's hand and kissed the back of it lightly with a brush of his lips before he looked up at her. Her pale cheeks had colored as her blue eyes stared transfixed upon his scar.

"A please to meet you at long last, Mr. Potter. I've heard much about you…" Narcissa said as Harry smiled.

"Not awful, I hope." Harry said with mirth.

"No, not yet." the woman replied as Harry nodded.

"Excuse my asking, but would you be related to a Draco Malfoy?" Harry asked, glancing over the woman's fair appearance once more, "An older sister, perhaps?"

She chuckled at him, and when she smiled, it was then that Harry noticed that her beauty had seemed to increase when she stopped holding her nose high, an expression that suggested that she was sniffing something foul. Harry figured that she had done this whenever she was in the company of those she considered her inferiors. He had to admit though, when she did it, it marred her beauty somewhat.

"Merlin, no, Mr. Potter!" Narcissa as Harry swiftly glanced up at his mentor, seeing the man's eye twitch when the woman swore by his name, "I am young Draco's mother."

"Really?" Harry asked, doing a good job of seeming shocked, "But you can't be a minute over twenty yourself, and I met Draco in Madam Malkin's dress shop a few hours ago."

"Yes, yes." Narcissa said, her cheeks turning a bright pink as she tried to remain casual, "During that time I was having a look at wands. But I digress. Enjoy your shopping gentlemen. First time?"

"Here, yes." Harry said with a nod.

"Then please, enjoy the variety and quality of the Malfoy Apothecary's selection. I'm sure you'll find everything you need… and more." Narcissa said as Harry got the impression she was leering at him. When he glanced at her, he saw she was indeed gazing over his form like a hungry predator.

Narcissa gave them both a nod before she moved on to greet more customers of her establishment. Harry and Merlin both exchanged looks before quickly purchasing what they had, and putting it away. They had turned to leave, but something stopped them as something caught Merlin's eye.

"We'll stay a bit longer ward. I'd like to see just what sort of wine they have here." Merlin said, the ancient wizard heading deeper into the store while Harry sighed.

"But I still need a wand, Master." Harry whined as he followed Merlin, who was glancing at the different things around while Harry busied himself with the jars around him as he did so.

Harry was just rounding the corner of an isle that Merlin had when he suddenly bumped into someone walking toward him. With a gasp, Harry reflexively reached out a hand and paused a falling jar in midair with a small time-freeze spell. He quick reached out, and snatched the jar from the air.

With a sheepish look on his face, Harry looked up at the person he'd bumped into, only to freeze as something in the back of his mind prickled.

Standing looming above him with a clouded look on his face was a tall, dower, and severe looking man. But that wasn't what made Harry feel weird. No, it was the fact that he knew this man's name without having ever seen him a day in his life. This man was none other than Severus Snape.

And Harry had no clue how he knew that…

"So we finally meet face-to-face, Mr. Potter." the man said quietly, though he didn't seem to need to speak any louder because Harry felt like the man's voice was booming with the way his mind was racing.

"I'm sorry, I don't know-" Harry tired, but the man scowled at him.

"You know exactly who I am, as I know you, Potter." the man sneered, "I knew your mother."

"Oh…" Harry said.

"Before she died protecting you, she gave me this." the man said, raising his dark black robe sleeve to reveal a heart emblem, but one that Harry recognized as his eyes widened.

"_That's the symbol of the final Keyhole_!_ Only a Princess of Light, Princess of Heart, or Keyblade Master could place that symbol on someone's body_!" Harry thought in shock, seeing his name across the emblem, "_Is this Severus Snape… my _slave?"

"It is a mark that binds me to you in servitude." the man said before kneeling to Harry, "I am Severus Snape, yours to command."

"Ummm…" Harry said, his mind blown as Merlin came upon him.

"Well this has been an excellent day. Look, Harry, I've got a bottle of Superior Red! Yen Sid and DiZ will take great pleasure in a cup of-… What goes on here, ward?" Merlin said as he rounded the corner, gazing down at the bottle before he looked up at Harry's shocked face and Severus Snape's knightly-kneeling form.

"He's Severus Snape… apparently my slave as thanks to my mother…" Harry said, not even wanting to think about his mother. He had known about his parent's deaths, but thinking about it always brought him great sadness. No, it was better if he remembered their lives instead of their deaths…

"Oh…" Merlin said, looking stunned, "Ahh… Hello there, Severus Snape."

"Hello, sir." Snape said from his kneeling position.

"Harry, tell him to get up." Merlin insisted while he glanced around.

"What? Can't he kind of do that on his own?" Harry said, gesturing.

"Yes, but I think he's one of those types that take servitude seriously." Merlin said as Harry rolled his eyes.

"Why? I'm eleven years-old. What did my mother expect me to do with my own slave? Have him bring me cookies and milk?" Harry asked as Merlin sighed.

"You know, I'm still here." Snape said as Harry nodded.

"Yes you are." Harry said, "Which means that you have some measure of free will, man. Get the hell up!"

"Why you insolent little-" Snape snarled as he rose to his feet, glaring down at Harry.

"See!" Harry interrupted, gesturing to Snape, "You have free will."

Snape said nothing as he glanced down at himself. For years he had feared that the mark would compel him to obey the Potter spawn. For years he feared that he'd be subjected to the same humiliations that the boy's own father had put him through. Or years he had believed that the day to the two of them came upon the other, what little of his life he cared for after Lily died would be shattered and replaced with a life of strict and degrading servitude.

Severus Snape was never more glad to be absolutely wrong in all his life…

"Well, see ya Severus Snape." Harry said as Snape stopped him.

"This is not something you can just walk away from, Harry Potter." Snape said, forcing himself to use the boy's full name, "I shall be seeing you at Hogwarts."

"Fine…" Harry sighed, not wanting to have to deal with yet another person how wanted to devote their life to serving him.

Hearts, did he already have enough of that with Cloud and Ienzo…

* * *

><p>Walking out of the Malfoy Apothecary, Harry and Merlin were greeted to the sight of Hagrid, who smiled at them as he held up three ice cream cones in his enormous hands.<p>

"Figured the two of you'd want a treat after today." Hagrid said as he handed them their ice cream, "Also, got 'arry here a present back at the pet shop."

"Really?" Harry asked, excited, "Gimme gimme gift!"

"Ward…" Merlin said, sending Harry a look.

"Oh, right, sorry. I mean, thank you Hagrid. I'm sure it's a lovely gift. Might I have it?" Harry said, imploring a tone like a woman at high tea. Merlin merely grumbled as he shook his head at the boy's antics.

"Why 'course yeh can! It's still there, it is." Hagrid said as he led the way.

At the shop, it was there that Harry gasped in pleasant surprise when he discovered that Hagrid had brought him, a birthday present, which was a beautiful snowy owl with amber colored eyes. Harry thanked Hagrid over and over again, having never had a pet before because his Masters had deemed it a luxury he couldn't afford with his worldly travels, but now Merlin was encouraging him to take the beauty animal.

Looking carefully at the owl, Harry petted it's head while gazing lovingly over it.

"You're a handsome fellow, aren't you?" Harry said as Merlin chuckled when the bird pecked at Harry's fingers in an indignant rage.

"I think you have problems with gender identification, ward." Merlin said mirthfully as Harry shrugged.

"So you're a girl, huh? And a feisty one at that." Harry said as the bird tilted her head, "Now what should I name you…"

"Why not Hedwig?" Merlin suggested as Harry blanched.

"I th'nk that's a good name." Hagrid said as Harry glanced up at him before gazing at Merlin with a deadpan look.

"And why that?" Harry asked, not bothering to hide the fact that he didn't quite like the name.

"She sort of reminds me of an old flame I had." Merlin said as Harry blanched even further.

"Okay, that's nasty." Harry said as his owl seemed to agree.

"She reminds me of old Hedwig Andechs. She was the Duchess of Silesia, you know. She was proud and dignified, yet loving and loyal." Merlin said as Harry stopped acting immature as he saw the sincerity which shone in his mentor's eyes.

"I guess your name is Hedwig from now on, huh?" Harry said as the newly christened bird hooted happily which Harry took as a fact that she liked the name. Harry smiled, knowing that his friends back in Traverse Town would love the owl.

"Well, Harry, this is where I leave ya." Hagrid said, looking a bit saddened, "Here's yer train ticket that will get ya to Hogwarts. I'll see yer at Hogwarts. Stay well." Hagrid said, handing Harry a ticket, which he put in his pocket, so he won't lose it.

Harry and Merlin watched Hagrid go after another round of thanks on Harry's part for the newly named Hedwig.

"Come along, ward. Last place of shopping; your wand from Ollivanders." Merlin said happily as Harry carried his trunk in one hand and Hedwig's cage in another, "Now keep in mind, the Ollivanders can get a little… up-close and personal with their seeking, as well as strange and choosy, but don't mind nor be offended. They're masters of the wand arts. If they snatch a wand from your hand, then that's it. You'll probably be going through a pile by time you find the right one."

"Okay…" Harry said slowly as they went on.

* * *

><p>Ollivanders was a narrow and shabby looking shop with peeling gold letters over the door that read <em>Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C<em>. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.

A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Merlin sat on to wait, his age catching up to him as Harry noted the man hadn't moved around so much in many years. Harry felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library, and Merlin seemed to understand. Harry nodded to his mentor as he swallowed back a lot of questions he had while looking around instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. His magical sixth sense was going haywire in the shop as the back of his neck prickled. The very dust and silence in the shabby shop seemed to tingle with some secret magic. Merlin seemed to catch it as he smiled at him.

"You can feel it, can't you ward? The magic in the very air around you." Merlin said quietly as Harry nodded.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen." said a soft voice as Harry jumped and Merlin chuckled.

An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.

"Hello, sir." Harry said awkwardly, feeling a bit nervous under the man's gaze.

"Garrick, you old salt, stop securitizing my young ward like that!" Merlin shouted happily s he got out of his chair and hugged the strange old man.

"Merlin, it's Merlin!" the man, Garrick said as he laughed merrily, "I haven't seen you since you started your travels across reality."

"Yes, but that's something for another time and stories over tea." Merlin said as he gestured to Harry, "My new ward requires a wand for his schooling."

"Ah yes…" the man said as his intense gaze once again landed on Harry, "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon, Harry Potter."

It wasn't a question, Harry knew that much as the man leered down at him, "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."

"_How does he remember that_?_ It must have been a whole twenty years ago_." Harry thought, his eyebrows furrowing, "_Does he really love his job just _that_ much_?"

Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry, the dark-haired boy wishing the man would blink, at least once. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.

"Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it — it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course." Mr. Garrick Ollivander said as he moved so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes.

"And that's where…" Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger. Harry felt the world around him shudder at the mystic touch from the old man.

"I'm sorry to say, Mr. Potter, but I sold the wand that did it." the man said softly, "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands… well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do…"

He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, returned to Merlin with a smile.

"Merlin… Merlin Ambrosius, my old friend! How nice to see you again… English Oak, twelve inches, rather rigid, wasn't it?"

"Yes it was. Now I have my cane with the wand in it's core." Merlin said, patting his cane affectionately.

"Yes, still making wands yourself, I see." Ollivander commented as his gaze lingered on the long, featureless brown rod with it's bump at the end, "Never did buy a main wand from us."

"But I'm trusting you with my student." Merlin said, "And I've only ever made two wands in my entire lifetime; my English Oak and this cane."

"Good wand, that English Oak one." Ollivander remarked as Merlin nodded. Then, to Harry's displeasure, Mr. Ollivander turned back to him with a piercing look, "Well now then, Mr. Potter. Let me see." Garrick Ollivander said as he pulled out a long tape measure with silver markings from his pocket, "Which is your wand arm?"

"Err… Well, I'm ambidextrous." Harry said as Ollivander nodded.

"Right-handed it is." the man said without missing a beat as Harry's face dropped comically, "Hold out your arm. That's it."

Ollivander measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, and then around his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

Harry nodded in understanding before he suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes while Merlin had resumed his seating with a smile.

"That will do." the slightly creepy man said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor before shooting into his pocket, "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."

Harry took the wand and waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.

"No, no… Hmm… How about this one? Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try —"

Harry tried, but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.

"No, no… Here. Ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."

Harry tried. And tried. And _tried_. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.

"A tricky customer, eh? I'd expect that much from any ward Merlin would teach. Not to worry, though. We'll find the perfect match here somewhere. Hmm… I wonder, now… Yes, why not… Hmm… An unusual combination, but… Here you are, Mr. Potter. Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."

Harry took the wand, feeling a sudden warmth in his fingers. Harry raised the wand above his head, and brought it swishing down through the dusty air. A stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. With another swish of the wand, Harry had made the sparks turn to flower petal. Then, he flicked the wand making the show of magic disappear. It all felt so much easier than when he had practiced with Merlin's cane or even his own wandless skill. It was like a gently flowing creek compared to the violent white waters of the other two.

Merlin clapped and cheered as Mr. Ollivander cried out, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed. Oh, very good. Well, well, well… how curious… how very curious…"

He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious… curious…"

"I'm sorry." Harry said, "But what's curious?"

"Yes, Garrick. What is going through that brilliant mind of yours?" Merlin asked as Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather… just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother… why, its brother gave you that scar."

Harry swallowed, looking shocked. He had been told on the way to his home-world about why he had to leave his home-world. He had been told the tale of "The Boy-Who-Lived". However, it was only once they had started out their shopping day earlier that Harry gave any thought to it.

"Voldemort…" Harry thought, feeling a bit uneasy on his feet.

"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember… I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter… After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things… _terrible_, yes, but _great_ none the less."

Harry shivered, not sure he liked the way Mr. Ollivander was staring at him (at his _soul_) too much. He paid seven gold Galleons for his wand, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.

* * *

><p>The late evening sun hung low in the sky as Harry and Merlin made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, and back through the Leaky Cauldron, which was now empty. Harry didn't speak at all as they walked. He only realized where they were when Merlin tapped him on the shoulder.<p>

"Time to get back onto the ship, ward." Merlin said as he cast Harry a smile, "We'll be sleeping and eating up there until it's time for your train to arrive."

"Okay, Master Merlin…" Harry muttered, seeing that no one was around, allowing him to use his mentor's name.

"Harry, you will do great things, just as Ollivander said." Merlin assured, "What's got you so down?"

"Nothing really." Harry said, "That guy was kinda creepy, but I'm just thinking of that You-Know-Who guy, Voldemort. Yen Sid and DiZ said that the Dumbledore guy thought he might return."

"And what's on your mind about that?" Merlin asked.

"When he does… Will I be ready?" Harry asked quietly, looking up at his eldest mentor in a rare moment of vulnerability. Harry was laid-back, yes. Harry was a bit cocky, yes. Harry was full of boyish attitude, yes. But Harry doubting himself, though he did so more than people thought, and speaking those thoughts aloud… well, that was as rare as an eclipse.

"I'm not going to deceive you, ward." Merlin began, "I don't know what the future holds. However, I do know this: when the time comes to protect those around you from evil, you'll be more than ready. You'll hit the ground running while casting any spells you know until you're close enough to deck the bad guys. That's the person you've been, and that's the person you are."

Harry stared up at Merlin with respect and admiration. He smiled, knowing that he could always count on his mentors for reassurance in himself when he was feeling low.

"Thanks, Master Merlin." Harry said, smiling as Merlin chuckled while ruffling his hair.

"No problem, Harry." Merlin replied, "Now let's get up to the ship so we can start on your wand work. It'll be a bit crude for a while, but the more practice you have with it, the better it'll flow."

"Okay, Master." Harry said, "There's just one more thing."

"Oh? What's that?" Merlin asked as Harry smirked.

"We need to call for our ride." Harry said as Merlin looked a bit frightened.

"Ward… Don't you dare-"

"BEAM ME UP, SCOTTIE!" Harry shouted to the skies as Merlin covered his ears, a blue beam descending from the skies to them.

"Dammit, ward! When I get my hands on you-!" Merlin was saying, but didn't get to finish as the blue beam of light fell upon them, whisking them away into the sky as it disappeared from view.


	4. The Express Way to Friendship

**I am currently remodeling my stories and rewritting some of them to improve their quality.**

**Chapter 4: The Express Way to Friendship**

* * *

><p>"Now, ward. Don't explode anything." Merlin said as he straightened Harry's robes just outside the London train station.<p>

"Okay, I' won't explode _anything_… despite your poor grammar." Harry said as Merlin sniffed.

"Smart alecky brat…" Merlin muttered as got up and led Harry into the station.

"But why a train?" Harry asked as Merlin shrugged, "There weren't even trains back when the school was started."

"Yes, and count yourself lucky." Merlin said as they walked, "We had to be transported to school by ship: a disgruntle pirate ship, governed by pirates and their pirate captain. His name was Captain Michael Governor, but he preferred Captain Mike. Whenever his armpits itched, there was danger to be had."

"Did I mention how glad I am for a wonderful train?" Harry said quickly as Merlin grinned.

"I thought you'd be!" Merlin chirped happily as they moved on.

Moving into the train station, Merlin and Harry dumped Harry's huge and heavy school trunk onto a cart. Then they placed Hedwig's cage and Harry's others things onto it before wheeling it into the station with them.

"I see platform nine… and platform ten. Where in the name of Hearts is Platform 9¾?" Harry asked as Merlin hummed in thought.

"It must be around here somewhere. Somewhere the Muggles can't find it or see it… Come on, ward." Merlin said and with that, Harry sighed as he could already tell it was going to be a long day.

Stupid magic folk… Harry had been right; it was turning out to be a long, _long_ day. They had spent nearly an hour wandering around the station looking and muttering incantations to reveal whatever spell was finding the platform from normal view. When nothing came up, despite himself; Harry felt his mouth go rather dry.

What in the name of Kingdom Hearts were they going to do? They were already getting a lot of funny looks, not only because of Hedwig but also because Merlin was completely confounded while he went around muttering to himself and poking at bins and bricks with his cane.

Finally, Merlin decided that there might be a witch or wizard on standby to help along the muggle-borns, so they'd have to ask someone.

"There, a guard." Merlin pointed out, "He might be one of them. Yes?"

"I suppose so." Harry said with a shrug, "After all, it couldn't hurt to look even more insane while we're here. Yes?"

But Merlin either didn't hear the sarcasm or simply chose to ignore it.

"Excuse me, good sir, we were wondering if you knew the platform to Hogwarts?" Merlin asked as the guard gave him a funny look.

"Hogwarts? Never heard of it. Is that some local slang?" the guard asked as Merlin shook his head.

"No, no. That's its formal name, I assure you." Merlin said as the guard raised a brow, still giving Merlin an odd look as he noticed the man was in blue robes.

Well, that had been a bust. The guard had never heard of Hogwarts and when told him it was somewhere in Scotland, the man (being from Scotland, _apparently_), started to get annoyed with them, as though they were having a go at him and being stupid on purpose. Getting desperate, Harry asked for the train that left at eleven o'clock, but the guard said there wasn't one.

"Well, he's a normal muggle…" Merlin said with a sigh, as the guard strode away, muttering about time wasters and crazy old coots.

"Ya know, you might not be able to tell by how calmly I'm saying this," Harry started, sounding very dispassionate and casual as he gazed up at Merlin, "But right now I am now trying very hard not to panic and set flame to you."

"And why is that?" Merlin asked with a raised brow.

"Because according to the large clock over the arrivals' board, we have less than half an hour, that means thirty minutes left, to get on the train to Hogwarts before it leaves. We have no idea how to do that, and we're stranded in the middle of this stupid station with a trunk we could hardly lift without magic, my pocket full of wizard money, _and a large white owl_!" Harry said, his voice rising a little as his anticipation and agitation with the situation finally getting to him, "Hagrid is getting an ass-kicking next time I see him, because he forgot to tell us how to find and get onto the platform, and we've already tried tapping the third brick on every platform! Maybe we should just get out our wands and start tapping the ticket inspector's stand between platforms nine and ten! Because that's just about the only damn thing we haven't done yet!"

"You are really worried, aren't you?" Merlin asked gently as Harry took a deep breath before sighing it out.

"Yes." Harry said, looking up at his mentor, "I left my friends behind for this stupid school, and I'm about to miss the train to it all because I can't even find the platform. This is stupid…" Harry said, crossing his arms and kicking at his cart.

"We'll get you to Hogwarts, ward." Merlin promised, "Even if we have to Apparate there. Though I haven't done that in many years, I'll risk it if it means your happiness."

"Master Merlin…" Harry breathed, deeply moved that his eldest mentor would risk a life-threatening injury all for his sake, "You don't have to do that. If we can't find the platform by the time the train leaves, then I simply am not going… ever. This is stupid, and we shouldn't have to look for the platform with no guides or obvious signs to it."

However, while Harry was just about to give up on Hogwarts altogether, Merlin glanced up with a smile. Harry raised a brow at his master's sudden change in mood, but when Merlin pointed, he saw what got him so curious.

It was because at that precise moment, a group of people passed just behind Harry, with Merlin and him catching a few words of what they were saying.

"— and packed with Muggles, of course…"

Harry swung round, nearly knocking Hedwig's cage over as he hid behind it to secretly watch the group. The speaker had been a plump woman talking to four boys, all with nearly flaming red hair. Each of them was pushing a trunk like Harry's in front of him — and they had an _owl_.

"They have an owl, too!" Harry whispered excitedly with relief clear in his tone, despite the fact that he tried to sound nonchalant about it all.

"Yes, they do." Merlin said, smiling despite himself. Apparating to Hogsmeade would have been painful beyond all belief. He would have _done_ it, but it would have _hurt_…

With his heart hammering in his chest, Harry and Merlin pushed Harry's cart after them. They stopped and so did Merlin and Harry, just near enough to hear what the red-heads were saying.

"Now, what's the platform's number?" the plump woman, who must have boys' mother, said while looking around nervously, as though she might have lost someone or as if she needed someone.

"Nine and three-quarters!" a small girl, also redheaded, piped up as she held onto her mother's hand, "Mom, can't I go…"

"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first." the mother said to what looked like the oldest boy, who marched toward platforms nine and ten.

Harry and Merlin watched closely, careful not to blink in case they missed it — but just as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him and by the time the last backpack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.

"Dammit to the Doors of Darkness!" Merlin whispered crossly.

"Fred, you next." the plump woman said.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," the boy said, shaking his head sadly, "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you _tell _I'm George?"

"Sorry, George, dear."

"Only joking, I am Fred." the boy said, and off he went. His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done so, because a second later, he had gone — but how had he done it?

Now the third brother was walking briskly toward the barrier he was almost there — and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere. There was nothing else Harry could think of to explain it.

"Hmm…" Merlin hummed before standing up straight and walking over to the plump woman, "Excuse me, Madam."

"Oh, hello, sir." the plump woman said, then noticing Harry behind him, "His first year at Hogwarts?" at Merlin's nod, the woman giggled, "It's my son Ron's first as well."

The mother pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose.

"Yes, yes." Merlin said, offering his hand, "I'm this young ward's mentor. My apprentice here and I have spent a great deal of time trying to find the way onto the platform. I, myself, have never quite gotten to Hogwarts by train."

"Yeah." Harry said, adding his two cents, "You see, ma'am, the thing is, we still don't know how to—"

"How to get onto the platform?" the mother said kindly, as Harry and Merlin nodded in unison, "Oh, where are my manners, sir. I'm Molly Weasley. Now, not to worry." she said, "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."

"Thank you for helping me, Mrs. Weasley." Harry said, spying a ring on her finger before he smiled at the plump woman, making her blush, and wave him off.

"Oh, not a problem, dear." Mrs. Weasley said, reaching over and patting Harry on the shoulder, "Now then, off you go."

Harry went and got his trolley, pushing it around toward the barrier before staring at the thing. It looked very solid as Hedwig gave a hoot of protest when he started to walk toward it. Hedwig must have thought him crazy when he started to move a bit faster. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten, making Harry pick up a bit of speed and move quicker. He glanced to the side and saw Merlin watching intensely, though there was a sliver of worry in the man's gaze. Harry gulped as he turned his attention back to the still very solid-looking brick barrier. This was it. He was going to smash right into that barrier and then he'd be in trouble. Harry shook his head as he leaned forward on his cart, breaking into a heavy run, the barrier coming nearer and nearer. He wouldn't be able to stop now; the cart was out of control. He was a foot away. Harry closed his eyes ready for the crash —

It didn't come… In fact, he just kept on running… when he opened his eyes, Harry was slightly taken back, but all the while amazed to see a scarlet steam-engine waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said _Hogwarts' Express, eleven o'clock_. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words _Platform Nine and Three-Quarters _on it.

Oh thank Hearts, he had done it…!

* * *

><p>Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.<p>

The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Harry pushed his cart off down the platform in search of an empty seat. He passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."

"Oh, _Neville_…" Harry heard the old woman sigh.

A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd.

"Give us a look, Lee, go on."

Lee grinned and Fred and George both nudged him in the ribs.

The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg.

"Ward!" Merlin cried out as Harry looked back.

"Master!" Harry said, surprisingly relieved that Merlin had been able to make it through.

"I should have known they'd have something like this setup." Merlin scolded himself, "An entire subspace that exits through into a railway that acts as the way to the school. They've come a long way from using pirate ships and flying carriages."

Harry said nothing as he simply gazed around with Merlin. It was all so much to take in. Never before had he seen something so… odd, and yet, so pleasant.

"You're finally going off to Hogwarts." Merlin said, taking off his glasses to wipe away a tear, "We knew this day would come, but still…"

"Master…" Harry breathed as he and Merlin embraced briefly.

"So… what house are you rooting for?" Merlin asked, trying to change the subject so there would be no hard good-byes.

"I don't know." Harry admitted, listening around "But it seems a lot of people are really keen on getting sorted into Gryffindor or Ravenclaw."

Merlin frowned, bending down to Harry's eye-level to give him one of their "man-to-man" talks. "You know, Harry, I was in Slytherin House."

"You were?" Harry asked, "But that sounds kinda… evil…"

"Yes, it does." Merlin said thoughtfully, "But it's not. I was taught by Salazar Slytherin himself, and I can say that neither I, he, nor any of those I knew in Slytherin House were evil. A few nasty pranksters, like myself, but not evil."

"You were a prankster?" Harry echoed in great surprise. He would never have thought it!

"Oh yes." Merlin said, looking back fondly on his memories, "We did some pretty fun things, now that I think about it. Myself and a several of my mates in Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Hufflepuff came together to create the greatest prank of all time. One that would last throughout the ages."

"What was it?" Harry asked with baited breath. He could hardly wait to top it!

"We created… a poltergeist!" Merlin said as Harry's jaw dropped, "Not a nasty vicious one for evil, but rather a nasty annoying one that we'd laugh at when he confused students."

"You.. You… I can't top _that_!" Harry said, knowing well that he wouldn't be able to top a timeless poltergeist if it was still at the school.

"No you can't, ward." Merlin said with a smirk, ruffling Harry's hair, "That's why _I'm_ the Master."

"I'll have my vengeance, old man." Harry swore as Merlin scoffed, but then the seriousness of the conversation was back.

"Listen, ward. Being in Slytherin is not a mark of evil. I was in Slytherin, even though today the house is strongly associated with immoral anti-Muggle views." Merlin said, then tapped at his chin, "Though I do suppose that with all my ambition; what with all my plans for the Order of Merlin and advocating Muggle rights and tolerance, it is not entirely surprising… However, I digress. Slytherins are _not_ necessarily bad or evil."

"I know that… now." Harry admitted as Merlin smiled, "But this book I was reading says that Salazar Slytherin hated muggles and all sorts of things."

"And those things are filthy lies, exaggerations, and half-truths at best!" Merlin said fiercely, "I knew Salazar Slytherin personally. He was a great teacher, and friend to all his students and the fellow founders. Though I shall not lie, Salazar Slytherin didn't trust Muggle-born students. It was mostly due to how he remembered the persecution against wizards by muggles. He also believed that the Muggle-borns would eventually slip-up when out in the normal mundane world. He believed they would eventually expose man-kind to wizards, and create another dark time of earlier said persecution."

"Huh?" Harry said, not truly grasping the concept.

"Think the Salem Witch Trials… but worldwide." Merlin said as Harry pale drastically, "Yes, it was his greatest fear, and he expressed it profusely so that he and the others could come up with measures to prevent such a thing."

"Well that doesn't sound so bad…" Harry said as Merlin nodded.

"And it wasn't, but the other founders didn't like it. They exceptionally didn't agree with his opinion on not accepting Muggle-borns at Hogwarts the year after I graduated. I had returned to the school, hearing about the controversy of the matter, and taught Charms for a few years." Merlin said as he recalled the experience, "However, when the other Hogwarts founders didn't agree with him, especially Godric, which turned into a duel between the two, Salazar simply left the school and never looked back."

"So what happened then?" Harry asked, knowing that was not the end of the tale.

"He confided in we Slytherins a secret of his. A secret we swore not to speak so long as he lived." Merlin said, giving Harry a look that made him zip his lips, "He told us that before he left, he created a chamber beneath the school should anything happen like the witch trials. It was called the Chamber of Secrets, and within it was a monster we were to use against any vicious Muggle or Muggle-born that dared to attack us or the school."

"A monster?" Harry echoed in shock, "He hid a _monster_ in a school? The guy was off his rocker! He was paranoid as all get-out!" Harry exclaimed as Merlin shrugged.

"He was, but luckily his paranoia wasn't founded. As you can see, wizards are still safely hidden." Merlin replied with a gesture to the platform as Harry raised a brow.

"What did you after he left?" Harry asked as Merlin sighed.

"I left a year later as well. Thought I could do more good for Muggles and prove that he was wrong in his distrust of them because of his bad experiences." Merlin said, then gave Harry a firm look, "The point is, Slytherin does not equal evil no matter what anyone says. Good and evil is found in the heart."

"Yeah, I know…" Harry said, "All hearts have light and dark, but it's which one we choose to confront our problems with that matters."

"I couldn't have said it better myself." Merlin replied with a smile, patting Harry's shoulder, "Now lets run along. The train will be leaving in ten minutes."

"Yes, Master." Harry said respectfully, falling into step with his beloved mentor as they pressed on through the crowds. Eventually Harry got onto the train, finding an empty compartment near the end of the train. He put Hedwig inside first and then stared expectantly at his trunk while glancing at the train door.

"I think magic is okay to use here." Harry said, not bothering to try and lift his trunk up the steps as he took out his wand. Rather than try any incantation, Harry thought of a melody to work with his own inner magic. Suddenly his soul was filled with a beauty tune as he waved his wand like an orchestra leader. His trunk began to lift up to the rhythm inside his head. As it began to hop along the steps up onto the train, Harry's inner peace was cut short by a voice behind him.

"Oy! What are you doing?" Harry's eyes snapped open and he lost the song. Not only that, but the trunk came tumbling back down the steps and dropped painfully on his right foot.

"Ow! Dammit!" Harry swore, clutching his foot as he hopped in place. Turning once he put his foot down to glare at whoever had cuased him such an annoying pain, Harry saw that it was one of the red-haired twins he had followed through the barrier. The tall boy was grinning slightly, amused at Harry's comedic pain while Harry scowled, wanting nothing more than to turn the boy into a hyena. Yeah! Then they'd see who'd be laughing!

"Need a hand, mate?" the boy asked, laughter in his tone as Harry scowled. He put his wand away as he found that he could not recall the melody, and supposed it would be better to lift the trunk the old-fashion way anyway.

"Yeah, thanks," Harry muttered dispassionately as the boy's grin grew.

"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!" the boy, who must have been George, yelled as the other twin came over. With the twins' help, Harry's surprisingly heavy-set trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment. Harry stared at their flush face while looking out the compartment's window for his mentor, the Prince of Enchanters. That old fart was supposed to have put feather-weight charms on his stuff!

"Thanks, dudes." Harry said, pushing his slightly dampened hair from out of his eyes.

"What's that?" one of the twins asked suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning-bolt scar.

"A scar…" Harry answered slowly, hoping the two weren't rapid Harry Potter fanboys.

"Blimey," the other twin said. "Are you —?"

"He _is_," the first twin said as Harry quirked a brow. "Well, aren't you?" he added when he saw Harry's look.

"What? I mean, who?" said Harry.

"_Harry Potter_, of course!" the twins chorused as Harry quirked his brow even higher.

"Oh, him?" Harry said, though a small part of him was deeply amused. "Why yes, I am."

The two boys gawked at him, and Harry felt himself smirk defensively as they continued to simply stare at him. Then, to his slight relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.

"Fred? George? Are you there?"

"Coming, Mum." the two called back, and with a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train.

* * *

><p>Harry sighed as he almost stepped off the train himself. Though when he saw his master chatting with the plump mothrer of the twins, he stood in the doorway where, half hidden, he could watch the red-haired family and his teacher on the platform while also hearing what they were saying.<p>

Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief.

"Ron, you've got something on your nose."

The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose.

The other brothers all started laughing at Ron.

"_Mum_— geroff" the boy wriggled free of his mother's grip while Harry felt feelings in him stir where he had long since buried them.

If only he had his mother to wipe his nose clean…

"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" one of the twins said.

"Shut up," Ron spat back.

"Where _is_ Percy?" their mother said as Merlin hung back while politely speaking with the only daughter of the red-haired family.

"He's coming now." one of the twins pointed out as the oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes, and Harry noticed a red and gold badge on his chest with the letter _P _on it.

"Can't stay long, Mother," the eldest said pompously. "I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves —"

"Oh, are you really a _prefect_, Percy?" one of the twins said, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."

"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," the other twin said, tapping his chin in thought. "Once —"

"Or twice —"

"A minute —"

"All summer —"

"Oh, shut up," Percy the Prefect said with disdain while Merlin chuckled.

"Pay them no heed, young man." Merlin said wisely, "You should be proud of the accomplishment, and I'll have you know that I was prefect back in my old days at Hogwarts."

"You attended Hogwarts, Mr. Emirs?" the mother asked as Merlin nodded with a chuckle.

"Oh yes, many years ago." Merlin said heartily as he patted Percy's shoulder. "But do mind you, young lad, that you don't forget what truly matters in light of accomplishment."

"And what's that?" Percy asked as the twins rolled their eyes.

"The people who care about you, and help you to achieve such accomplishment, of course." Merlin said, gesturing to Percy's redheaded family.

"How come Percy gets new robes?" one of the twins asked suddenly, breaking the fond moment as Percy glared at him.

"Because he's a _prefect_," their mother said fondly, hugging the eldest boy. "All right, dear, off you go. Have a good term, and— Oh, send me an owl when you get there."

She kissed Percy on the cheek and the boy gave Merlin one last look before he left. Then the mother turned to the twins as Merlin did so as well, though Harry could see the twinkle in the old man's eye. So the two were pranksters, huh? Well, it seemed that Harry had some competition already…

"Now, you two— this year, you behave yourselves." she said, a hand on her hip as she wagged a stern finger. "If I get one more owl telling me you've— you've blown up a toilet or —"

Merlin smirked, resting a hand on her shoulder as she turned to him. "You really shouldn't give them ideas."

"Blown up a toilet?" one of the twins said suddenly with great glee, "We've never blown up a toilet before!"

"Great idea though," the other twin said, "thanks, Mum."

"It is _not _funny. And look after Ron." the mother said firmly as the youngest boy, Ron, huffed.

"Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."

"Shut up," Ron said again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.

"Oh yeah!" one of the twins said suddenly, snapping his fingers, "Hey, Mum, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"

Harry leaned back quickly so they couldn't see him looking. Dammit, not a family of fans!

"You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station?" one of the twins said excitedly, turning to Merlin, "Your wart, or something? Well, guess who he is?"

"Who?" the mother asked, casting a glance at Merlin.

"_Harry Potter_!"

"Indeed he is," Merlin chuckled as Harry heard the little girl squeal with excitement.

"Oh, Mum, can I go on the train and see him? Mum, oh please!" the little girl asked as Harry slid down some with a sigh. Great… another fangirl…

"He's your student, Mr. Emirs?" the mother asked as Merlin nodded.

"Oh yes, and he's quite the talent." Merlin said casually as the girl squealed again. The girl's mother turned to her when she tried to sneak away.

"No, you've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo." the mother said sternly while Ron scowled.

"Is he _really_ Harry Potter, Fred?" Ron asked skeptically, not bothering a glance at Merlin.

"Yeah he is. Asked him myself. Saw his scar. It's really there; like lightning." the twin which was Fred said as the mother sighed.

"Poor dear — no wonder he got on the train so quick." the mother said as she looked up to Merlin. "You've done an excellent job with him. He's ever so polite."

Harry blushed while Merlin chuckled some more.

"He's naturally so, but I must admit that I've had to make him be more so polite toward others."

"Never mind that manners stuff," the twin Fred said dismissively, "Do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"

The mother suddenly became very stern while Merlin seemed extremely nonchalant about the whole ordeal.

"I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school."

"But he doesn't." Merlin supplied. "Besides, he was only a toddler for that, but still try to reframe from asking.

"All right, we won't." Fred said exchanging a grin with his twin, George, "Keep your hair on."

A whistle sounded as Harry hurried to a compartment.

"I hope Harry is really on that train instead of riding atop it…" Merlin muttered just out of Harry's earshot while the red-headed mother hurried her children onto the train.

The three boys clambered onto the train, leaning out a window for her to kiss them good-bye while their younger sister began to cry.

"Don't cry, Ginny. We'll send you loads of owls." Fred said as George grinned.

"Yeah, we'll send you a Hogwarts' toilet seat." Harry quirked an eyebrow as he went back to his compartment. Well, _there_ was an idea for Yuffie's souvenir…

"_George_!"

"Only joking, Mum."

* * *

><p>The train began to move. Harry saw from his compartment's window how the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed, then she fell back and waved.<p>

Harry watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the window. Harry felt a great leap of excitement while he stared out the window. He didn't know what he was really getting into— but he hoped it was really just as good as what he was leaving behind.

The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest redheaded boy came in.

"Anyone sitting there?" the boy asked, pointing at the seat opposite of Harry. "Everywhere else is full."

"Nah, sit a spell." Harry said as he shook his head. "Get it? Sit a _spell_?"

"Ha! That's kinda funny." the boy said as he sat down. He glanced up at Harry, who noticed they were just about the same height, but when Harry looked at him, the boy then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose.

"Hey, Ron."

The twins were back.

"Listen, we're going down the middle of the train — Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

"Right," Ron mumbled, looking vaguely uncomfortable with the mention of a large spider.

"Harry," the other twin said, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley."

"Spiffing to meet you!" Fred said, reaching into the compartment to shake the laughing Harry's hand.

"Yes, yes! Absolutely marvelous!" George said, taking Harry's other hand.

"And a jolly good day to you two as well." Harry replied jovially, switching his hands so he was now shaking hands with his arms crossed over one another.

"Oh yes, and this is Ron, our brother." Fred said as Harry reached over, surprising them all with his third-arm trick as Ron goggled at the appendage before limply shaking it.

"You've got to teach us that." George said as Harry grinned.

"Now, now. Trade secret." Harry smiled, remembering his blue-skinned genie friend whom had taught him said trick.

"Yeah well, see you later then."

"Bye," Harry and Ron said. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.

"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out as soon as the door shut.

Harry nodded, smirking as he did. Never before had anyone, even those on other worlds who knew of him through his young reckless heroics, simply came out like that.

"Oh, good," Ron said, then caught Harry's raised brow, "No, it was just… Well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," then Ron looked sheepish. "And have you really got the— you know…?"

He pointed at Harry's forehead.

"Yeah, wanna see?" Harry asked as Ron nodded a bit too quickly for Harry to believe safe for the boy's neck.

Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning bolt scar while Ron stared.

"So that's where You-Know-Who—?"

"Yup," Harry said with a shrug, "but I can't remember it."

"Nothing at all?" Ron asked eagerly.

"Well… I do remember thunder flashing, a lot of green light and a kiss, but not much else."

"Wow," Ron breathed. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.

"Are all your family wizards?" Harry asked, who found Ron just as interesting as Ron found him. It was like meeting the citizens of Halloweentown all over again; just plain fascinating.

"Er— Yeah, I think so," Ron said, scratching his neck a bit in thought, "I think Mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."

Harry said nothing, figuring the man couldn't do magic as Merlin had told him some people in old families couldn't every few generations.

"So you must know a lot of magic already, huh?" Harry said, figuring that the Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding families Merlin had talked about.

"I heard you went to live with Muggles," Ron said, avoiding the question. "What are they like?"

"Well, I've never met my muggle relatives," Harry with a shrug, "I went to live with my mentors far from England. They all lived separate from one another, so over the years I would move from one mentor to the next."

"Oh. What are they like?" Ron asked, clearly remembering Merlin.

"Well, you met one of them, and he's pretty cool, though a bit cranky at times." Harry said, "Then there's another named Yen Sid, who is as wise and formidable as he is old and severe. He's a really tough teacher, but he's not unfair and he's good at what he knows."

"He sounds like what the twins said about Professor McGonagall," Ron said as Harry shrugged. No one was as stern and strict as Master Yen Sid. _No one_.

"Then there's the last one. He's an… odd sort of king, because he's also a great researcher."

"Like an Unspeakable?" Ron asked as Harry figured that was his home-world's magical scientists.

"Umm… yeah, sure. Anyway, we call him DiZ, and he's really cool. Though he's a little _too_ calm and kind at times, but it's just who he is."

"Wait, you said he was a _king_?" Ron asked, his eyes wide.

"Well yeah, he is, but he doesn't really like the title of King." Harry said as Ron shook his head.

"Bloody hell…"

"Yeah, but I wish I had three wizard brothers." Harry said, "The people I call family are a bit… odd…"

"Five," Ron said, and for some reason, he was looking gloomy.

"Huh?" Harry said as Ron sighed.

"I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to." Ron said as he began counting on his fingers. "Bill and Charlie have already left the school already— Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep.

"His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff— I mean, I got Scabbers instead."

Ron's ears went pink.

He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.

"There's nothing wrong with not being able to afford an owl." Harry said as Ron ducked his head with his pink ears sticking out. "Well with my mentors, I had to work to earn my spending money, and sometimes my keep. And besides, even though your brothers came before you, I'm sure you'll find a way to stand out all your own."

His little speech seemed to cheer Ron up as they began to talk some more. It was always great meeting a new friend, and Harry had to admit that Ron had some interesting tales from just being around his own house while Harry supplied a few stories of his own. Though even Ron noticed how many of them involved Yuffie.

"So is this Yuffie Kisaragi your girlfriend or something?" Ron said as Harry coughed, his face going red as he stuttered and stammered.

"Girl- _Girlfriend_?! You must be out your gourd if ya think that!" Harry said, pointing wildly at Ron, who blinked in confusion. "She's an annoying little shrimp that likes to think she's some great ninja, but in reality she's just a wet-behind the ears squirt with dirt in her skirt."

"Umm… huh?" Ron said as Harry realized he was talking a bit fast and incoherently.

"She's _not_ my girlfriend." Harry said firmly, "She's just a girl who _happens_ to be one of my best friends."

"Right," Ron said, though he looked supremely unconvinced.

"So, Ronald-"

"Ron." Ron corrected.

"Right, Randy." Harry said as Ron shook his head, "Tell me, do you know anything about this Voldemort charact—"

But Harry didn't get to finish as Ron hopped back in his seat and gasped.

"Okay, so everyone really does have that reaction…" Harry muttered with a deadpan expression. Dammit, now he owed Merlin twenty munny…

"You said You-Know-Who's name!" Ron exclaimed, sounding both shocked and impressed as he pointed wildly at Harry, who sighed.

"It's just a name, it won't slap you." Harry said to the hysterical boy as Ron calmed down.

"Well… I'd have thought _you_, of all people —"

"Well, he killed my parents, so I'm gonna use his name," Harry said pointedly, "If only to piss him off from beyond his grave. And I'm coming to this school so I can get to know more, ya know."

"Well, don't worry. You'll do great!" Ron said, "I mean, you're Harry-bloody-Potter!"

"Damn straight, new bud!" Harry said, high-fiving his new friend as they laughed and continued with their getting to know one another.

* * *

><p>While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, both watching the fields and lanes flick past peaceful interest.<p>

Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast in his and Merlin's haste to get him on the train, leapt to his feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered how he'd brought sandwiches whilst Harry went out into the corridor.

Harry hummed in thought to himself as he glanced over the wide selection of candies the woman had on her cart. While his living under his mentors had been mostly a free bid, each mentor had their own take on his health. Yen Sid never allowed him sweets, saying that the candy would ruin his teeth and curve his appetite. DiZ only allowed sea-salt ice cream bars after a good day's work or an exceptionally well-done session of study. Merlin had been strangely adamant on Harry's sweet-intake limitations, grumpy constantly on how a child should have sweets regularly in order to fully enjoy their time as children. The three masters had even argued over whether or not Harry could have a second slice of his birthday cake, Yen Side arguing that, "A moment of indulgence could breath a lifetime of ill health," whilst Merlin countered with the oh so moving proverb, "Oh, shut up!" DiZ had been decidedly in the middle, saying that it could develop into a bad habit like with giving Harry's spoiled ego a gift- which apparently no one could argue was a good thing- but then said that sweets were also one of the things that made childhood so worthwhile as he reminded the others of how they had been as children.

But apparently, Master Yen Sid hadn't had much of a childhood to begin with as he grumbled under his breath about the fact.

So while Harry kept all of this in mind, he also kept in mind the fact that his pockets were rattling with gold and silver ready to be exchanged for as many Heart Bars and as much sea-salt ice cream as he could carry— but the woman didn't have any of that, not even a single Chocobo-pop or Gummi-gummi. What she did have were Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange things that Harry had never seen in his life. Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.

Ron stared as Harry brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat.

"Hungry, aren't you?" Ron asked as Harry threw him a grin.

"Starving, man!" Harry said, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty. It was really good, like some sorta pumpkin pie-cake-thing.

Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and sighed, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef…"

He tossed Ron a pasty, but with the redhead not expecting it, he got hit in the face with the snack while Harry chuckled.

"Go on, dude, have a pasty. I've got plenty." Harry said, looking at his mount of treats. "In fact, have more than a few. We need to finish this before we get off…"

"Thanks…" Ron muttered, "I'll pay you back someday." he added quickly as Harry shrugged.

"If I wanted pay back, I wouldn't be sharing. Now would I?" Harry said as Ron smiled sheepish while biting into his pasty. The look on his face reminded Harry of all the times he was able to cook a meal for his friends, or when he was able to buy ice cream or pizza for Yuffie.

"It's a nice feeling, huh?" Harry said absently as Ron looked up from his snack cake.

"Huh?"

"I mean this is nice; sitting here with a new friend, eating our way through loads of pasties, cakes, and candies while those sandwiches lay forgotten." Harry said, gesturing to the sandwiches as Ron blinked at them, but didn't move to touch them.

"Yeah, it is nice." Ron said, feeling something inside of him grow far more comfortable around Harry. Like he wasn't so shy anymore. It was like a warm glow was starting to shine in his stomach, and it made him smile at his new friend.

"We need to get more people to share these sorta moments with." Harry said as Ron continued to smile. "More people to connect with as we strengthen old bonds while forming new ones alongside the old."

"I don't know what you're saying, but it sounds nice." Ron said, and he really did think so, "Pass me a pack of Chocolate Frogs."

"These things." Harry asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs, "What are they? They're not _really _frogs, are they?" Harry said with a smile, starting to feel that nothing would surprise him in this new world of magic.

"No, they're just enchanted chocolate is all." Ron said, "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."

"What? Or rather, who?" Harry blinked.

"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know. Well, Chocolate Frogs packs have cards inside 'em, you know, to collect— bunch of famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy." Ron's ears were bright red as he found Harry's intense gaze a bit unnerving, but he smiled and it wasn't forced.

"I wonder if they have a card for me…" Harry muttered as he unwrapped his Chocolate Frog while tossing Ron another. "I've always wanted to be on a collector's card." Harry admitted as he picked up the card from his pack. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and mustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.

"So _this _is Dumbledore, huh?" Harry said, inspecting the card, "Not that far off from my mentor, but this guy here has a crooked nose and half-moon specs. My mentor, _Emirs_ _apparently_, has full-moon specs and is bald at the top of his head."

"Wait, don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" Ron said, ignoring the comparison between the great Merlin and what Harry termed the hack trying to copy him. "Can I have another frog? I might get Agrippa— thanks, mate—"

Harry turned over his card and read:

_ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_

_CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS_

_Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for: his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling._

Harry turned the card back over and saw, to his astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared.

"Holy Hearts! The dude is gone!" Harry shouted as Ron didn't even bother to look up at him.

"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," Ron said as Harry gave the boy's turned away head a deadpan glare. "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her… do you want it? You can start collecting."

"Morgana?" Harry asked, taking the card. If he remembered right, Merlin had told him a couple of times about the woman. Morgan Le Fay was her name, and she was said to be even more vile than Maleficent…

Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped. Harry looked up from his thoughts. "Huh? Oh, go ahead and help yourself," Harry said with a dismissive wave. "But, you know, where I come from, and just about everywhere else, people just stay put in photos."

"Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed as Harry nodded. "_Weird_!"

Harry stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on his card and gave him a small smile. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off them. Soon he had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus, and even one of his mentor: Merlin! Harry tucked that last one away in his pocket to keep with him always.

Harry finally tore his eyes away from the Druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

"You want to be careful with those," Ron warned as Harry quirked a brow. "When they say every flavor, they _mean _every flavor. You know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get things like spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a booger-flavored one once."

"Umm… okay…" Harry said, more than a little put-off by the thought of ingesting a booger-flavored candy.

Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner.

"Bleaaargh! See what I mean? This one is sprouts." Ron said, tossing the bean away in disgust, "I hate sprouts…"

"I hate eating seafood." Harry admitted as Ron smiled at him.

They had a good time eating the Every Flavor Beans. Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to eat a funny grey one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper.

* * *

><p>The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills.<p>

There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Harry had passed on platform nine and three-quarters came in. He looked tearful.

"Sorry," the boy said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"

"No, can't say that I have." Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck as he turned to Ron, "You?"

"Nope." Ron said, looking sorry for the boy.

"Wait, maybe I can summon it." Harry said as he took out his new wand.

"Huh?" Ron and the round-faced boy stared.

"I can probably call forth your toad with a spell my mentor taught me." Harry said as he flicked his wrists a few times to get his sleeves down his arms. "Now then, what's your toad's name?"

"Umm… Tr-Trevor…" the boy said, looking at Harry's wand nervously.

"Right then, come inside." Harry said, smiling at the boy. The boy moved inside, standing just inside the doorway as Harry brightened his smile a little more. "What's your name?"

"Ne-Neville… Neville Longbottom…" the boy, Neville, said with his head bowed. Harry, seeing the boy's hands trembling as he clasped them in front of him, bit back a joke on the boy's last name in favor of helping the guy.

"Alright then, let's see if we can't get you that toad, Nev." Harry said as Neville looked up at him, no one ever calling him any sort of good nickname that wasn't meant to be a nasty insult.

Harry took in a deep breath as he began to move his wand through the air. Ron and Neville were a bit surprised to feel the air around them crackle with static electricity whilst Harry summoned his power. Then, the air settled as Harry must have garnered enough control over his surrounding energies before the air became like a soft caress to the skin as it went froth in search of it's target.

"Bring forth Neville's toad named Trevor." Harry intoned, his eyes closed as he held his wand loftily. The tip glowed a bright blue as Harry held it, his eyes staying shut in concentration as his power searched the train for the specific toad.

Suddenly and without warning a couple of minutes later, a blur shot into their open compartment and nearly smacked Harry in the face if not for a flourish of his wand stopping the hurtled object.

Or rather, hurtled pet. Because, when Ron blinked his eyes, there was a toad hovering in the air upside-down in front of Harry's face. Both Ron and Neville tried to comprehend it, but the latter boy gave up in place of the joy he felt that his toad was back to him.

"Trevor!" Neville squealed in prepubescent happiness at having his pet returned to him. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"My name is Harry, not thank you." Harry said with a smirked as Neville blushed, not having known the boy's name and only able to say words of gratitude in face of the joyous occasion.

"Thank you, Harry!" Neville said, taking his toad from the air and smiling at the still seated Harry. Then, it became awkward as Neville shifted his toad in his hands, the creature croaking in annoyance at being moved around so much.

"Umm… well… I had better go…" Neville said as Harry smiled.

"You have somewhere to be?" Harry asked as he exchanged a look with Ron, who shrugged at the unspoken conversation that passed between them.

"Well, yeah." Neville said lamely, "I was kinda sitting with these two nice girls. Hannah and Susan. They're really nice."

"And they're girls?" Harry asked, looking clouded for a moment while Neville nodded slowly.

"Then why are you still here! Get back to them, you daft fool! Go, go! Away with you!" Harry shouted, getting up and kicking his new pal from the compartment, "Go entertain the lovely ladies, Nev! You aren't supposed to just leave two _really nice_ girls by themselves while you search for some stupid toad! Go back, apologize, and then spread the word of how cool I am to them."

"Umm… okay…" Neville said as Harry smiled at the round-faced boy before slammed the compartment door in his face.

"Honestly, the nerve of that guy rubbing it in my face that he got two _really nice_ girls and all I've got here is you." Harry muttered aloud to himself as he gestured off-handedly at Ron, who barked in indignation.

"Hey!" Ron shouted, though he could tell Harry was joking by the way the guy grinned at him for his outburst. "Anyways, I don't see why he was so bothered by the toad either if he had to nice birds with him for company. Besides, if I'd brought a toad with me, I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."

Harry blinked, having completely forgotten about the rat that was snoozing on Ron's lap nearly the entire time they had been eating enormous quantities of sugary foods.

"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," Ron said with some mild disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work."

"Oh, so you _do_ know some magic, too?" Harry asked as Ron looked uncomfortable for a moment, but then nodded.

"Yeah, but like I said; the spell didn't work. Here, I'll show you. Look…" Ron replied as he rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end. "Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway-"

"Is that your chosen wand?" Harry asked quite suddenly, and quite rudely his mentors would scold if they ever found out about the conversation.

"Well, no, but that's nothing for here." Ron said, muttering mostly as he didn't mean Harry's eye.

Thankfully he was spared Harry's tactless curiosity when their compartment door slid open again just as he was about to raise his wand. Neville was back, but this time with a friend. A girl, Harry corrected as his eyes lit up, especially when seeing that said girls was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.

"Harry! Trevor's gone again!" Neville screamed in child-like despair as Harry jumped up, and walked over to Neville. He began shaking the boy like a rag doll while shouting at him.

"What did I tell you earlier about leaving really nice girls all alone in a compartment while you search for a toad?!" Harry yelled, but then dropped the terrified Neville to the compartment floor as he turned to the girl, who stood shocked at his actions.

"Forgive me, my lovely lady. That was rather rude of me." Harry said smoothly as the girl's gaze shot up from Neville sprawled out body to Harry's charming face. Her eyes were still wide and grew wider when Harry took her hand in his own.

"My name is Harry. Now please, tell me: are you Hannah or Susan?" Harry said, brushing his lips lightly to the back of the girl's hand, making the girl stutter and blush as her bossy look disappeared in place of complete awkwardness.

"N-Neither… I'm Hermione Granger," the girl greeted as she calmed herself and took back her hand. Neville scrambled to his feet as he saw Harry glance down at him, and panicked, shooting over to where Ron was while Harry turned back to the girl named Hermione.

"Well Hermione, won't you please come in." Harry said with a grin as he gestured for the girl to enter.

"Thank you," she said, moving in to sit next to Neville and Ron, who noticed the girl's long bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth.

"Anyway, have you by chance seen Neville's toad again? Or maybe you can bring it here again with magic? He told me about it when I ran into him in the corridor outside. Said he was coming here for your help." Hermione said in a bossy tone of voice as she sat primly and straight like a proper English lady. "Well go on, let's see it." then she turned to Ron, who still had his wand out as her gaze locked in on the item in question which was still in his hand, "Or you can do it. Let's see it, then."

And as she turned to give her full attention to him, he was taken aback.

"Actually, I don't know how to do what Harry did." Ron muttered, "I was about to turn my rat yellow."

"Then go on," Hermione breathed, a small amount of excitement in her voice as Ron cleared his throat.

"Right then… Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow; Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow." Ron said as he waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed grey and fast asleep.

"That… doesn't sound right…" Harry said, staring at Ron a bit while Hermione huffed.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" she asked, not pausing for him to answer, "Well, if it is, then it's not a very good one, now is it?"

"Oh, and you know some magic, too?" Harry asked, getting a little annoyed that he wasn't the only one to know magic before going to the school. He had hoped to have an edge over his peers with all he had learned under his mentors, but it seemed that he wouldn't be so advanced after all if the trend kept going.

"Well yes, I've tried a few simple spells just for practice at home and they've all worked for me." Hermione said, "Nobody in my family is magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard— I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough— Oh, and again, I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"

The girl had managed to say it all in one breath, not looking at all bothered by how Harry seemed to lose oxygen for her from just watching whilst Neville and Ron gaped at her fast-talk.

Harry looked at Ron with a raised, and was relieved to see by his friend's stunned face that Ron hadn't learned all the course books by heart either. Looking toward Neville, he too had the same look.

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.

"And again, I'm Harry. Harry Potter," Harry said, and was about to wink when Hermione gasped and looked at him closely.

"Are you really?" Hermione asked suddenly and quickly just as Harry got his name out. "I know all about you, of course— I got a few extra books, for background reading, and you're in _Modern Magical History _and _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts _and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_."

"Am I really?" Harry asked, "Because that's a lawsuit ready to happen."

"What? Why?" Hermione asked as Harry raised a brow.

"Because I don't remember ever giving permission for my name or image to be in any books. I want royalties for the hard work I've put in being myself. It's not easy being this incredibly awesome and unfailingly handsome." Harry said while the other three blinked.

"And you say you know all about me from these books, huh?" Harry said, pointing at Hermione.

"Well, yes." Hermione said proudly as Harry smirked.

"Really now? Then what's my favorite color?" Harry asked as Hermione blinked.

"Umm… well… purple?" Hermione said as Harry crossed his arms in an X-fashion.

"Errr! Wrong!" Harry said as Ron chuckled, "My favorite color is red!"

"Oh, well…" Hermione said awkwardly as Harry went on.

"When is my birthday?" Harry asked as Hermione smiled, knowing the answer.

"July 31st," Hermione answered immediately as Harry shot her a look.

"Lucky guess…" Harry muttered before he smirked again, "Last question. What's the name of my best friend?"

"How am I supposed to know that?" Hermione asked, "Things like that aren't in history books!"

"Well, you said you know all about me, and these books were made whilst I was far, _far_ away. So they must have been spying on my life, cataloguing my every move if they claim to know me so well. So again I ask: what's the name of my best friend?"

"Umm… Umm… Uhh… Ron Weasley!" Hermione answered with a quick look at Ron, whose mirthful face morphed into one of shock.

"Nope! Wrong answer! You fail!" Harry chirped happily as Hermione looked shell-shocked. "Ron seems to be a good person, but we've hardly known each other more than a few hours. My best friend is named… actually, I have a lot of best friends. Hey Ron, wanna be my best friend?"

"Okay!" Ron agreed quickly, if only because it made Hermione twitch at how she was wrong and then made right.

Hermione cleared her throat, swiftly regaining her composure while Neville smiled at the dust pink color in her cheeks. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad… You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."

"I'm still convinced that Slytherin is some kinda secret code for the Order of Syphilis." Harry chirped, even though he would never say such around Merlin while Hermione, being the only one to know what he was talking about, stared at him with her mouth agape.

"Come on Neville, let's go find your toad." Hermione said rather quickly as Neville was about to ask why they didn't just have Harry magic it back to them like last time, but he was quickly pulled out of his seat and out of the compartment as Hermione couldn't seem to move fast enough half-dragging him along with her.

Harry watched with a confused look as he watched her go, taking the toadless boy with her as it seemed she couldn't move quick enough with the whipping of her robes behind her and Neville's whining. He wondered if he might have said something wrong, but then remembered who he was. He could never say anything wrong!

But all the same, it was safe to assume that Hermione had left because she suddenly couldn't bear anymore of his awesomeness. Well, either that or she suddenly developed a crush on him or Ron…

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," Ron said as Harry gave him a look.

"You shouldn't say things like that, or else they'll come back to bite you." Harry said wisely as Ron quirked a brow before shaking his head and throwing his wand back into his trunk.

"It was a stupid spell anyway," Ron said, changing the subject, "George gave it to me, but I bet he knew it was a dud."

"Hmm? You mean one of your twin brother's gave you that spell?" Harry asked as Ron grimaced with his nod. "Well, it makes sense now with it didn't work. They were playing a joke on you."

"I'm always a joke when it comes to them…" Ron muttered as Harry chuckled.

"It means they have fun with you!" Harry exclaimed so loudly that Ron was startled, "It's how Yuffie and me show we're friends. Like this one time I hid a crab in her bed."

Ron only gawked at Harry, then shook his head as he figured Harry was trying to cheer him up in some twisted way by giving him ideas on what to do against the twins.

"Hey, what house are your brothers in?" Harry asked as Ron blinked.

"Oh, they're in Gryffindor," Ron answered with a dismissive wave while gloom seemed to be settling on him again, "Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw _would _be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."

"Yeah, nobody should want to be a part of the Ancient Order of Syphilis." Harry agreed with a sagely nod of his head.

"What's Syphilis, Harry?" Ron asked curiously as Harry blinked, and then remembered Yen Sid's parting words of warning not to go around corrupting people.

"It's evil, Ron. Pure unadulterated evil." Harry whispered ominously as Ron took that as a sign that he should fear this old order.

"Yeah well, Slytherin's the house You-Know-Who was in. So I guess it is pure evil." Ron said as he flopped back into his seat with a dejected look.

Harry sighed, already missing Merlin from the man's parting words. He ran a hand through his dark locks, before settling his somber gaze on his new friend, "Ron, Slytherin isn't evil. It's just a house created by a powerful wizard. Besides, my mentor, whose name is apparently Emirs, was a Slytherin and he's one of the nicest people I've had the pleasure to know."

"Oh…" Ron said, and then it was quiet for a while as the train continued it trek to school.

"And you know what else, Rob?" Harrry asked as Ron blinked at him.

"My name's Ron, Harry."

"That's what I said Sam." Harry said innocently as Ron twitched before shaking his head.

"What else, Henry?" Ron asked as Harry smirked.

"Well, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter," Harry said as he waved a hand, making the rat's fur turn a mustard yellow while Ron laughed at the bad joke. But it worked none the less as Harry could see Ron's mind was off of houses and so was his as Harry tried to teach his new friend a bit of magical control like Merlin and Yen Sid had passed onto him for years.

* * *

><p>"Thanks, mate." Ron said, doing the wax-on, wax-off training under Harry's supervision.<p>

"No problem, dude." Harry said as he watched Ron continue the technique. "So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?" Harry asked as he found himself wondering what wizards and witches did once they got a magical education. Did they become like Merlin and travel the planes of existence, or did they become like Yen Sid and start teaching others once they'd finished school.

"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Egypt doing something for Gringotts," Ron supplied as he found his arms growing tired under the wax-on, wax-off method. "Speaking of the bank, did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the _Daily Prophet_, but I don't suppose you get that with being from far away. Anyways, someone tried to rob a high security vault there in Gringotts."

Harry stared, having only been in Gringotts less than a week ago as he and Merlin had needed more things from the vaults to give as samples to the Moogles.

"Really? What happened to them?" Harry asked, remembering how Griphook had gave him a toothy grin when telling him what happened to those that tried to get into vaults that weren't their own.

It had not sounded pleasant _at all_.

"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught." Ron said as Harry grew wide-eyed. To not be caught by the sneaky vicious goblins seemed like no small feat. The only people Harry knew that could probably pull off an escape from the little devils were Yen Sid and Merlin, both being powerful magical masters for many more years than Harry had been alive.

"Yeah, that's the look I had when my dad said it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts. But the odd part's that they don't think the person took anything. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."

"But isn't Voldemort supposed to be dead?" Harry asked, ignoring the way Ron flinched visibly at the name of the supposedly dead Dark Lord.

"Yeah, but you never know with evil people…" Ron muttered, glancing around as if Voldemort would show up at any moment to apprehend him for revealing the evil madman's living status.

Harry, however, ignored the conspirator's glances as he thought over the news he was just given by his new friend. He was starting to get a prickle of unease each time Voldemort was mentioned as though no one knew if the man were truly dead or not. However, Harry brushed the feeling away as he supposed this was all part of entering the magical world, and his annoyance at how he and Merlin had been the only ones so far capable of saying the Dark Lord's name without much worry.

"What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked as Harry suddenly came out of his reverie.

"Er… I don't know any." Harry confessed with a shrug.

"What!" Ron shouted, looking dumbfounded and panicked, "Oh, just you wait, it's the best game in the world!" And he was off, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money. He was just taking Harry through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville, or Hermione this time.

Three boys entered, and Harry recognized the middle one at once: it was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop.

He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley, shooting Harry a small smirk as he glanced over the young sorcerer.

"Is it true, Potter?" Draco asked as he stepped inside, slamming the compartment door shut in the face of his two chunky friends. "Is it true that without us being able to marry the Half-Bloods and Muggle-borns, and even the vile Muggles that our lines would wither and our bodies deform?"

"What's he on about?" Ron asked as Draco ignored the red-head as he stared intently at Harry.

"Yes, most likely so." Harry answered the blond with a shrug, "I'm sure that you can trace your family ties to each of these so-called old wizarding families that you enjoy calling pureblooded."

"And is it also true that you've been in here helping people like Longbottom find his disgusting toad?" Draco asked as Harry shrugged again.

"Yeah, but he's lost it again." Harry admitted as Draco scoffed hauntingly while crossing his arms.

"That boy is a walking lummox. He'd probably lose his head if it weren't attached to his meaty neck." Draco sneered as Harry quirked a brow.

"Is something wrong, Draco? You seem very snappish compared to the last time we met." Harry observed as Draco sneered at him.

"You don't know me just from one chance meeting in a robes shop." Draco shot back as Harry shrugged again, finding amusement in Draco's deflecting.

"But," Draco began before Harry could make another comment, holding up his hand to stop the dark-haired boy from speaking again, "my father and mother did interrogate me when we got home after that day. They found my behavior and comments lacking in our family's way of business. They would like me to apologize for it."

"So…?" Harry trailed as he exchanged a glance with Ron.

"As you might have guessed by now, I normally don't apologize to those I've offended." Draco continued as though Harry were a practice dummy. "In fact, I've never apologized a day in my life."

"So your non-apologetic apology is accepted." Harry interrupted with another shrug as Draco blinked at him.

"But, how?" Draco demeaned as though Harry had just insulted him, "I insulted your mother for her blood-status."

"My mother is also dead," Harry bit back coldly as Draco looked scared, "and I don't think she's worrying too much about blood where she is; which is a better place than here."

"Oh…" Draco said, seeming to have lost his tact in face of Harry's crisp tone.

"But no harm, no foul." Harry said with a clap of his hands, "You were talking out of your butt. And besides, we're eleven. I don't expect everyone to be as mature as I am for my age, and the only reason why I'm so is because I spend most of my time around mentors more than six times my age."

"Good then," Draco said, seeing that he was forgiven and trying hard to regain his air of arrogance. "My parents would also like for me to extend a branch of companionship toward you in the hope that we may become good friends one day soon."

"Your parents are gold-diggers, aren't they?" Harry asked as Draco and Ron blinked.

"My parents own wealthy businesses, but they might have a hand in gold recovery." Draco pondered before he simply let the thought go as Harry sighed, seeing that common world-phrases were not so common within the Wizarding World.

"Sure, Draco. We can be friends." Harry said as Draco gave him a small smile.

"Good." Draco said as he extended his hand to Harry. "Then let's make this a proper first meeting, shall we. My name is Draco Malfoy."

Harry clasped the hand, and was about to give his own name when Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco looked at him, anger flashing through his stormy grey eyes.

"Think my name's funny, do you?" Draco asked as Harry sighed.

"Don't do anything you two." Harry said, seeing the two glare at one another.

"Oh I won't start a row here, mainly because I have no need to do so with the common rabble." Draco said loftily as Ron shot to his feet.

"What did you say, Malfoy?" Ron asked fiercely as Harry sighed and sat down.

Well, there went his plan of making as many new friends as possible…

"It's just that there's no need to ask who you are." Draco said smugly, glancing over Ron's appearance. "My father told me all about your family, Weasley. Red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford."

"If they have more children than they can afford," Harry asked as the two broke glaring to look at him, "Then how is it that they can afford them? I mean, if they had more than they can afford, then how could all of them still be around?"

"Don't contradict me!" Draco shouted as Harry snorted.

"I'll do it every time I find something I don't get in whatever nonsense comes spewing from your mouth." Harry said as Draco glared at him.

"Never the less, you'll soon find out how some wizarding families are much better than others." with that, Draco let his glare drift to Ron, "You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort."

"You mean the lower-class as you'd call them?" Harry asked as Draco nodded. "I don't know Draco, I rather like the lower-class. At least they have something of substance to say. Unlike snobs like you that brag about what they have and complain about what they don't." but in a grumble under his breath, Harry added: "You're no different than Safer…"

"Who?" Draco asked as Harry shook his head.

"Besides, Draco, if not for the lower-class, then the higher-class wouldn't exist. You need a hierarchy of classes in order to be at the top or bottom." Harry replied instead as Draco gave him a confused look, "And, there is also the fact that people should be judged by their actions instead of their wealth or possessions. After all, we can't take them with us when we're received into Kingdom Hearts."

"Into what?" Draco and Ron asked in unison as they both gave him bewildered looks.

"Umm… Heaven, ya know." Harry said with a shrug, "Big, nice, float-y place in the skies."

"Oh…" the two opposing boys said as they now understood.

"And, Drake?" Harry said as Draco blinked at him.

"My name is Draco." Draco sniffed, holding his head high.

"That's what I said, Darren." Harry said innocently as Draco's brow twitched with annoyance. "Anyways, Daniel, you had better get your little superiority complex shrunken when we get to school. I mean, no one wants to be friends with a jerk, and toe-rags only attract other toe-rags."

"Is there a point to this?" Draco sneered as Harry cut his eyes toward him.

"Yes." Harry growled, "It means that you'll never make true friends if you don't learn how to accept others as they are. I, personally, can put up with your being an asshole, but I don't think others will. You go around insulting people, and your only friends will be those who enjoy the same. Meaning that you'll be missing out on great times with great people."

"And what great people could there be?" Draco asked, crossing his arms in a defiant stance.

"Well, for example, you have a problem with people you think below your notice." Harry pointed out, "People you call Muggle-borns and Half-bloods. Take Hermione Granger for example," Harry said, exchanging a glance with Ron. "While she might be a bit bossy and kinda of know-it-all, she still seems like a nice person at heart. And I'd bet good munny that you'd dismiss her as nothing but a person below your interest."

"As I'm sure she is." Draco replied arrogantly as Harry rolled his eyes.

"Then why am I of interest to you, Draco?" Harry asked, "I'm not but a Half-blood as you'd like to term me."

"You've also defeated the Dark Lord," Draco pointed out.

"As a one year-old toddler," Harry countered as Draco shrugged.

"You're also famous for it." Draco said as Harry sighed.

"Again, for something I did as a toddler and have almost no memory of." Harry repeated dutifully.

"There's the fact that you were raised by wizarding kind and a king." Draco said as Harry put his head in his hands.

"You're just trying too hard to be right." Harry said, waving his hands at the compartment door. "Just… just go… You're starting to give me a headache." Harry then took his head from his hands as he rubbed his temples. "Seriously, I thought Yuffie was the only person more stubborn than me."

"Didn't you leave those two big guys out in the corridor?" Ron asked as Draco didn't appear to care.

"And?" Draco asked, confirming Harry's suspicion that he didn't care. Then, Draco cleared his throat, standing up straight as he moved toward the door, "Well, this has been pleasant. I'll see you later, Potter, Weasley."

"Bye, Draco." Harry replied dully, still rubbing his temples.

"Later, Malfoy." Ron said as he and Draco glared at each other for a moment before Draco swept from the compartment.

"He's definitely going to end up in Slytherin." Ron said darkly as he glared at the door.

"How so?" Harry asked.

"Because if Slytherin isn't completely evil, it's at least filled with prats like him." Ron said seriously as Harry shrugged, feeling that he had been the voice of reason more than enough for one day.

DiZ was starting to rub off on him, and the bandaged man would have been so proud of him if he were there to see Harry not instigating incidents for his own amusement.

* * *

><p>Harry heard some talking going on just outside the compartment door, and a second later, Hermione Granger had come in with a happy look on her face.<p>

"What _has _been going on?" she asked, looking at Ron's annoyed mood and Harry rubbing his temples.

"We had a talk with one Draco Malfoy." Harry said as he stopped massaging his temples.

"Oh, I just met him. He seems a little snobbish, but he's really charming and was nice." Hermione said with a smile as Ron looked sick.

"I think I'm going to be ill." Ron said, shooting disgusted looks at Hermione when she wasn't looking.

"Enough," Harry breathed, "I'm just glad he's actually listening to my advice… even if he's the kind of person to never admit it."

"You've met Malfoy before?" Ron asked, ignoring the fact that his new friend was trying to extend an olive branch of friendship to Malfoy as well.

"Yeah, met him in Diagon Alley." Harry said, explaining their brief encounter in the robes shop.

"Well, before today I had never met any of them, but my dad complained about Malfoy's father all the time when he'd get home from work." Ron said darkly, crossing his arms. "Mum says the Malfoys were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. They were crying about how they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it, though. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side."

Harry said nothing, pondering the dark side comment that Ron had made before he turned to Hermione, "Is something wrong, Hermione? Does Neville need help finding his toad?"

"Yes, well, you'd better hurry up and put your robes on. I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there." Hermione said as Harry raised a brow.

"We have a conductor? I thought this was a magic train." Harry said, then shook his head. "Right then, Ron needs to change." Harry said, since he'd already had his robes on from since he arrived at the train station with Merlin.

"Umm… Would you mind leaving while I change?" Ron asked, his ears going pink even though he tried to look annoyed.

"Oh, all right. I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," Hermione said in a sniffy voice.

"Well, we are a bunch of kids and teenagers going off to school with no parents to watch over us. It's basically like a giant sleepover in school." Harry said, "Also, if you're trying to find a friend, you can always come to me, cutie." Harry added with a wink as Hermione looked confused at him before simply turning to leave, but then turned back to Ron.

"Oh, and you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?" Hermione said to the red-head as Ron flushed while Harry started sniggering.

"You didn't have to point it out…" Ron muttered as he rubbed at his nose where his mother had tried to get rid of the mark before.

"I'm sorry, did you want to go walking around with a large smudge of dirt on your nose?" Hermione countered innocently with an eyebrow raised.

Ron grumbled. She won this round…

When Hermione had left, Ron glared at the door she disappeared from before beginning to change. Harry peered out of the window while his friend changed into his robes. It was getting dark. He could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down.

Ron took off his jacket and pulled on the school's long black robe. Harry turned back, seeing that Ron's were a bit short for him as he could see Ron's shoes underneath the robes. He focused on them, his wand in hand once more as he waved it at the robes, willing them to grow longer as they did so under his silent command.

"Thanks, mate." Ron said as he saw Harry spell his robes longer.

Then a voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Harry felt his stomach lurch with excitement as he saw Ron look pale under his freckles. Harry opened his pockets, cramming the last of the sweets into them as Ron did the same before they left from their compartment and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.

* * *

><p>The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"<p>

Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.

"C'mon, follow me — any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!"

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville and Hermione. Harry glanced back to the others, seeing Draco glaring in their direction as he was placed in a boat with a girl, a dark-skinned boy, and another pale-skinned not that different from Draco himself.

"Everyone in?" Hagrid shouted, who had a boat all to himself. "Right then — FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" Hagrid yelled as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face.

"Wonder what'd have happened if we didn't duck in time?" Harry asked himself as Hermione answered.

"_Hogwarts: A History_ says that the ivy will pull you up and drop you back in the boat." Hermione said as Harry grimaced.

"That doesn't sound to pleasant for my precious bottom." Harry said as the boats were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" Hagrid said, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.

"Trevor!" Neville cried blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.

They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"

Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

Harry could feel his heart thumping in his chest. This was it; the start to his latest adventures.


	5. The Story of Hats and Chaps

**Chapter 5: The Story of Hats and Chaps**

* * *

><p>"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"<p>

Neville nodded as Hagrid raised a gigantic fist. He knocked three times on the castle door. Harry could feel his heart thumping in his chest. This was it; the start to his latest adventure.

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross. She could very well be Master Yen Sid's long-lost sister with the way her eyes slowly roamed over them.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid reported at once in her presence.

"Thank you, Hagrid," she replied in a no-nonsense tone, but still nodded kindly, "I will take them from here." and with that said, Hagrid bowed and left her with the young charges, but not before giving a wink over at Harry.

Huh, and he had almost forgot his vow to kiss Hagrid's ass the next time he saw him. Oh well, that could be fulfilled sometime later in the year…

The stern witch pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have parked at least six of the smaller Gummi ships within it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to easily make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right, the rest of the school must already been inside, but Professor McGonagall showed them, the First Years, into a small, empty chamber just off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather close together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously. Harry, however, was not the least bit nervous. If anything, then he was positively bubbling with excitement and anxiety to get things started.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall started, "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house Common Room."

She paused shortly to give them all another sweeping glance as Yen Sid normally did. Honestly, were the two related?

"The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."

Harry raised a brow at the mention of a House Cup. Was it a big enormous trophy they could win? Merlin hadn't mentioned anything about fabulous prizes to be had.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." She almost seemed to smile at them, but then she turned around and left the room, closing the door after her.

* * *

><p>Two seconds after she was gone, Harry couldn't take it anymore.<p>

"Well crap, and here I thought I was getting away from Old Man Yen Sid…" Harry's shoulders sagged as Hermione, Ron, and Neville looked at him weirdly.

"Who?" Hermione asked with a curious expression.

"Well, you see, I was raised a bit differently than most people. When my parents died, I didn't go to the last of my relatives, or to an orphanage. Instead, I was given to my mentors, who watched over me like guardians. But, they each also took the time to raise me and teach me things. One of my guardians and mentors was named Yen Sid. He's a powerful sorcerer and wizened wizard. But, he's also this major drill master!" Harry flagged his arms for emphasis. "He almost never smiles, and he's always on your back about stuff. He's very strict, extra cranky, and really hard to please."

"But…" Neville prompted, because it seemed Harry couldn't go three sentences of complaint without giving at least one compliment.

"But he cares a lot, and his lessons really hit home with me. And I suppose that if I didn't have someone as strict as him in my life, then I wouldn't be the amazing person I am today." Harry struck a heroic pose as the other First Years around him looked on in awe.

"If your head got any bigger, Potter, then the rest of us would die from suffocation." a nasally, arrogant voice called out from just behind Harry, adding, "Longbottom, be useful and find me a needle. We need to release some of the hot air in Potter's skull."

Harry slowly turned around to see Draco Malfoy and his two thickset, mean-looking lackeys.

"Oh yes, I forgot to introduce you last time. This is Crabbe and this is Goyle," Draco introduced after a beat.

"Wow, what have you been feeding them, Drake?" Harry asked.

"My name is Draco."

"That's what I said, Donald." and Harry snickered as he thought of a certain du-

"I swear to Circe, Potter! If you don't start calling me by my proper name, I'll-"

"You'll do what?" Harry challenged as Draco glared at him.

"Umm, Ha-Harry? I don't think you should be starting a row here." Neville said timidly in the face of Draco's near palatable anger. "You'll be expelled before even starting school."

"That'd be a new record for me!" Harry said, pumping a fist into the air. "And it'd totally top Old Man Mer- I mean… Old Man _Emyrs_' stunts!" Harry turned to Neville, "Besides Neville, I'm not starting a _row_. I'm starting a _fight_. Why would I want to start a _row_? This isn't the choir or paddle-boat club, ya know."

"Dunderhead, a row _is_ a fight." Draco hissed in annoyance. Harry blinked.

"Uhh… Huh?"

"It's a bit of slang, Harry." Hermione explained, "You see, a row means any sort of noisy quarrel or racket that happens."

"Ohh," Harry said blinking at Hermione before he smiled, giving the girl a thumps-up. "You're really smart, Hermon."

Hermione blushed, "My name is Hermione, Harry. Hermione Granger."

"Okay, Hermione."

"HEY! HOW COME YOU GOT HER NAME RIGHT?!" Ron and Draco glared at Harry in prime indignation.

"Rocky, Disco. Come on, calm down. She's a lovely lady." Harry said placating before turning to Neville. "Can you calm them down, Norman?"

"S-Sure, Harry." Neville decided not to even fight the fact that Harry got his name wrong while Ron and Draco both berated him for having no pride in himself, but then starting fighting with each other because the other had agreed with one another. Neville then tried to quiet them, but they both turned to him.

"SHUT UP, _NORMAN_!" they snarled as Neville shrank back.

Thankfully, all the rage flying between Ron and Draco kept most of the other students around them from being too nervous about the upcoming sorting, because now they were all too nervous that Draco and Ron would start a fist-fight at any moment. Insults flew from one boy to the other. Draco insulting Ron's family for their disgrace and poverty. Ron insulting Draco's own family for being snobs and arse-kissers.

"ENOUGH!" Harry shouted, and with a snap of his fingers, both boys were silenced forcefully by what felt like tape on their mouths. "I could take the smack-talk about Ron's long nose, and Draco's stupid hair, but trash-talking one another's families is _OUT OF THE QUESTION_! You don't know anything about each other's families other than what you've heard. Hell, you barely know _each other_. The next time I hear one of you speaking ill of something you don't understand or know, it'll be _ME_ you have to fight. Got it memorized, _mates_?" Harry finished, a dark look to his normally laid-back expression while Draco and Ron paled at the energy crackling off Harry like electricity. The two could only nod dumbly as they're mouths were still forced shut.

Another snap of Harry's fingers gave them back the power of speech.

Before Draco could tear into Harry for having silenced him and the deflation of his Malfoy family ego when it came to being superior at magic, the doors to the Great Hall opened once more and the First Years were allowed entrance.

* * *

><p>Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by hundreds of thousands of candles that were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the First Years up there, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, a few ghosts shone misty silver. Harry walked proudly throughout all the staring, even as it started to become a bit uncomfortable. He wanted fame and prestige, but this was a little ridiculous. The eyes on them simply stared, not for admiration or expectation's sake, but merely the blank stare that only kids could produce right before the exciting part of something came. Harry looked upward. He saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens.<p>

"Its bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History." he heard Hermione whisper.

"Hermione," he whispered back, "I get that you're smart, but please don't take away our childish sense of wonder while you show off that big brain of yours."

Hermione and several others blinked at him, then she blushed and looked down while the others giggled and snickered around them. Harry nudged her, and when she looked up at him, he gave her a brilliant smile which for some reason made her smile back shyly.

Harry looked ahead of them again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed, yet slouched wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. Maybe he'd make his first prank by getting a rabbit out of it, Harry thought with a smirk. That'd show everyone just how awesome he is. Noticing that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, he stared at it, too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat began to sing:

_**Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,**_

_**But don't judge on what you see,**_

_**I'll eat myself if you can find**_

_**A smarter hat than me.**_

_**You can keep your bowlers black,**_

_**Your top hats sleek and tall,**_

_**For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat**_

_**And I can cap them all.**_

_**There's nothing hidden in your head**_

_**The Sorting Hat can't see,**_

_**So try me on and I will tell you**_

_**Where you ought to be.**_

_**You might belong in Gryffindor,**_

_**Where dwell the brave at heart,**_

_**Their daring, nerve, and chivalry**_

_**Set Gryffindors apart;**_

_**You might belong in Hufflepuff,**_

_**Where they are just and loyal,**_

_**Those patient Hufflepuffs are true**_

_**And unafraid of toil;**_

_**Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,**_

_**If you've a ready mind,**_

_**Where those of wit and learning,**_

_**Will always find their kind;**_

_**Or perhaps in Slytherin**_

_**You'll make your real friends,**_

_**Those cunning folk use any means**_

_**To achieve their ends.**_

_**So put me on! Don't be afraid!**_

_**And don't get in a flap!**_

_**You're in safe hands (though I have none)**_

_**For I'm a Thinking Cap!**_

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bent toward each of the four tables in turn and then became quite still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered furiously to a grinning Harry, "I'll kill Fred! He was going on about wrestling a troll."

Harry couldn't help it. He laughed, and used Ron as support to stop himself from falling to the floor.

"And why'd you believe that stuff?" Harry asked after he stopped looking like a crazed loon in the eyes of the other new students, "Honestly, I've seen your twin brothers. They don't look like the type to stick around long enough to even _smell_ a troll. Trust me, I've seen a fair few while living with my mentors."

"What about the hat's song, Harry?" Neville asked behind him with Draco at his side.

"Just be yourself, Neville. You don't have to try and be anything for anyone but who you are." Harry said, in one of those rare moments of sincerity. Everyone in the line was quiet as they listened to Harry's gentle words. "If you have to pretend to be something you're not, then it's not worth it. You're the best you that you can be, and people are either going to like you for it, or not."

"B-But my Gran says—"

"She's worried about you, Nev." Harry said, clapping a hand on Neville's shoulder. "But, if she worries about you, that means she loves you very much. No matter what you do or what house you get put in, she'll still love you. She'll love you because you'll do your best, and make her proud by giving it your all!"

Neville stared at Harry for a long pause, even as Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment and began to speak.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. She began with the A's of course.

"Thank you, Harry…" Neville said quietly as Harry looked back at him, flashing a cheesy grin.

"No prob, Norman. Not like any of this matters anyway. You're all getting the short end of the stick on this one."

"How?" Hermione asked in quite curiosity.

"Because all the houses sound like some sort of disease straight from Deep Jungle." Harry said, remembering his short time spent in Tarzan's world.

As time wore on into several minutes, Harry saw that the process of house-picking was rather straightforward and really boring. It took him only watching a few students being sorted to see that the person walked up to the chair, sat down, Professor McGonagall put the Sorting Hat onto their head, and they sat there anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes, before the hat would open its brim-mouth to shout out one of the four house names. By the time the B's had been finished, there had been at least one new student going to each of the four houses, who'd clapped wildly and greeted their new First Years with open arms. Taking a moment to study the people at each of the tables, as they moved rapidly through the rest of the alphabet, he noticed that they all looked expectant and enthusiastic now that the Sorting was well underway.

Well, all except for the table on the far end, under the green and silver serpent banners.

The Slytherins all looked rather pompous and arrogant. Some even appeared just a bit brutish too, he noted. However, he kept his tongue in cheek as he remembered quite hotly that Master Merlin had been a Slytherin. He tried to imagine his kindly old mentor sitting amongst the toerag-looking bunch, but just felt it was even more out of place when compared to their snobbish looks.

Harry turned to Ravenclaw's table. The students there seemed just as pompous, but their arrogance was dulled slightly by intelligence and anxiety shining through their eyes. He could picture Leon and Master Yen Sid sitting amongst their ranks, both with their arms folded as they gave Harry a look that said he'd better join them.

The Gryffindor table seemed like a bit of fun, with wide grins, open smiles, and a bit of an atmosphere that Harry sometimes noticed around kids in Traverse Town or one that hung around DiZ's old world. He could see a person like Cid or even DiZ himself fitting right in with the air of open challenge.

The Hufflepuffs looked the most open, friendly, and overall least hostile of all the tables. They also had a mixed set. Some were smiling just as softly as Aerith did whenever Harry saw her, and some were just as goofy-faced as Yuffie whenever she was given Sea-Salt ice cream or pizza. Harry could tell the two girls in his life would fit in perfectly with the 'Puffs, and that both would probably be widely respected in the house for their opposite, yet complimentary personalities.

Finally, it was time, or rather, Harry noticed one of his new friends getting their name called out.

"Granger, Hermione."

Hermione seem shocked that she was even called, so Harry gave her a little push. She turned back to him, and he gave her a thumbs-up for encouragement.

"Granger, Hermione." Professor McGonagall repeated the name, causing Hermione to jump a little before she ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

Harry chuckled a little as did a few others.

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat shouted while Ron silently cheered beside Harry. Harry silently smacked him upside the head while never taking his eyes off Hermione, who rushed to the blue and bronze colored horde which greeted her warmly with many proper handshakes and wishful words of welcome.

The next of Harry's friends was Neville, whose last name got a snicker out of Harry.

Neville almost tripped going up to the stool, but thankfully he only stumbled his way up.

The hat took a long time to decide with Neville.

When it finally shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to a boy named Morag MacDougal. The Hufflepuffs might have laughed, but they all still accepted Neville as though nothing could be better. A few of the girls, partially Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones, even hugged Neville, causing him to blush.

"Ah man, how come Norman's gettin' all the chicks? I'm the awesome one around here." Harry groaned while a dark-skinned boy behind him nodded in sympathy.

Draco swaggered forward, pushing pass Harry and Ron when his name was called. Harry howled in laughter when the hat had barely touched Draco's head before it screamed, almost sounding in disgust for Draco's hair gel, "SLYTHERIN!"

Draco smirked, but seeing Harry doubled over in laughter made him glare at the damnable last of the Potters before he went to join his stooges, Crabbe and Goyle. Even as he glanced annoyingly in Harry's direction, he was still looking quite pleased with himself.

There weren't many people left now. "Moon" went to Ravenclaw. "Nott" and "Parkinson" were both instantly placed in Slytherin trying to worm their way into Draco's good graces. Then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil" with one going to Gryffindor and the other to Ravenclaw as Hermione's quick friend. A "Perks, Sally-Anne" went to Ravenclaw as well, and then, at last it was him.

The stern Professor didn't even hesitate or double-take as she read off, "Potter, Harry!" The rest of the Great Hall, however, did not have her steady resolve.

As Harry stepped forward with an obvious pride in himself, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

"_The_ Harry Potter? Here?"

"Where is he? I can't see him! Where is he?"

"Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, he beat You-Know-Who, Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Potter…"

The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning over one another to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited.

"_Hmm_…_ Let's see here_," a small voice said. It seemed to echo all around and throughout his head. "_Difficult_. _Very difficult_. _Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes_! _Plenty of loyalty to those that you hold dear_. _To friends and teachers who have been loyal to you_. _And a nice thirst to prove yourself worthy of the fame you have both been given and hope to receive, now that's interesting_…_ So where shall I put you_?"

Harry wasn't entirely sure of an answer to that question. He tried hard to keep what Master Merlin had said in mind, but it was obvious that these new Slytherins were nothing like his friendly old teacher. Yet, he had learned long ago that appearances meant nothing, especially when it came to magic.

"_Indeed, Mr. Potter, indeed_… _However, if you don't make the choice for yourself, it chooses you, whether you want it or not_. _Still, there's that courage again_. _You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin would help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that_. _And you'd just grin and bear it wouldn't you_? _Well, that settles it_. _With that in hand, and with your fierce loyalty coupled with your drive to protect and help those around you as well as those you hold dear, you've proven yourself to have the true markings of one Godric _**GRYFFINDOR**!"

Harry heard the hat shout the last word for the whole hall to hear. He took off the hat, silently thanking it before he completely removed it. He gazed upon the hall as each house politely applauded to his placing, and he gave each house a nod back. While the Slytherins cheers were quiet subdue, the Gryffindors were going wild. As he walked steadily toward his house table, Percy the Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

Taking a seat next to the other First Years, Seamus Finnegan and Lavender Brown, Harry looked around and spotted Hermione and Neville still cheering him from their respective tables at Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Even Draco gave a small smirk as he clapped in a slow dramatic fashion.

"Glad it's over, huh mate?" the Finnegan boy said as Harry shrugged.

"I don't know about that. I wanted to do my hat trick, though." Harry replied.

"Ooo, what hat trick?" the Brown girl had turned to him.

"I was gonna pull a rabbit out of the Sorting Hat," Harry shrugged casually with a small grin.

"You should have done it!" one of the twins encouraged, grinning just like Harry.

"Why didn't we think of somethin' like that?" the other said to his mirror-self.

"Don't know," then twin that spoke this looked at Harry, "But we'll just have to learn at the feet of our new Master in the Most Sacred Arts."

Harry grinned. Already he had found himself some kindred spirits.

Harry turned from the others with a grin as though he were in thought. He looked up, and saw that he could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest him sat Hagrid, who caught his eye and gave him a meaty thumbs-up. Harry grinned back at him, even while planning to extract his revenge for what Hagrid had unintentionally put him through by not giving them directions onto the Platform for the Hogwarts Express. And there, in the center of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Harry recognized him at once from the card he'd gotten out of the Chocolate Frog on the train. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts, something which Harry was only slightly surprised by. Jack and his bunch had the effect of inuring a person from fright and surprise when it came to such things as ghosts and ghouls.

There were only three people left, and before too long, Ron and the dark-skinned Dean Thomas were sitting across from Harry. As the last of the sorting was finished, everybody turned expectantly towards the High Table. The teachers themselves, like the students, turned to the high chair at the center especially. Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome, welcome!" he said, "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you and tuck in!" he sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not, so he did.

"The Old man's off his rocker… I like it!" Harry said as Percy the Prefect turned to him, having sat beside his brothers.

"Off his rocker?" Percy said airily, "The man's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"

Harry's mouth fell open with a bit of drool. The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, puddings, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint bugs crawled about in golden bowls. Merlin had not mentioned such lavish meals.

"Yes, thank you," he finally managed to utter a response, accepting the dish from the Prefect. "This meal was sent from a higher power, one which knows my stomach's greatest desires. Let us all partake in this banquet, and let nothing go to waste."

The others stared again at Harry for his rather solemn and high-held words. It was almost like a prayer, to which Ron agreed as he and Harry dug into it like animals. All three of his masters would be very displeased with his lack of control and disregard for table manners, but where his stomach was concerned, even his friends and masters knew to never get in the way between Harry and his next meal whenever hunger crept upon him.

Seamus had just found that out.

"Ow! Harry bit me!" the boy clutched his hand, which had a set of teeth marks on it.

"I've never seen someone eat so much meat before in my life…" Lavender was both fascinated and disgusted by what she was seeing.

Harry gulped down a goblet of juice, stopping himself from choking before he went back to tearing into the next steak within range of his fork.

"Blimey, he's worse than Ron, and _that_ is saying something…" Fred said to Percy, who could only stare at the carnage between his youngest brother and Harry Potter.

While Harry devoured a dinner roll, the others took the time to notice that Harry was beginning to slow down on his meal. Finally, with his appetite and hunger slated to reasonably inhumane levels, the rest of the meal was much tamer. Harry spent the time sipping at his goblet while those around him ate as he was supposed to; with some manners, patience, and dignity. Though a few were not completely turned by Harry's eating habits. Some still regarded Harry as a sort of medieval nobleman. And while he entertained them with flashes of his scar, Harry was secretly listening for his other friends at the other tables. He could hear Hermione was going on about stuff she'd read in _Hogwarts, A History_ to her new friend in one of the Patil twins while the Ravenclaw perfect practically gushed with happiness at having the Granger girl. Ron was going on about the wizard sport Quidditch to Seamus and Dean. Lavender was talking gossip with an upperclassmen girl whilst Percy idly chatted about the school rules to another Gryffindor perfect. The Twins were coming up with pranks to pull over the course of the year, asking Harry's approval. Neville was warming up quickly to his housemates, if his smile and pleasant expression were anything to go by while he conversed with other Hufflepuffs. Draco looked rather bored with the girl and boy, Parkinson and Nott, who were talking to him, but seemed at peace with them as he spoke every now and then.

The only sour note was when his scar started to throb before giving him a sharp jolt just before the dessert course, which Harry of course saved room for.

He'd been looking up at the High Table, and trying to remember all the Professors' faces and trying to guess which adult taught which subject. He'd been looking at the purple turban on the head of Professor Quirrell wondering if the man might have come looking for him from Agrabah, when the pain flared into existence. When it gave him the sharp prick, he winced and rubbed it, but went back to eating when dessert was present. After eating his dessert, though this time with far greater presentation, he went back to his inspection of the Professors. Severus Snape sat next to Professor Quirrell. He stared at Harry, as though wondering what Harry would do next. Honestly, if the man expected Harry to actually address the fact that they were forcibly made master and servant by his mother right then in the middle of a meal, he would be sorely mistaken. Shrugging, he didn't bother looking back again. If Snape wanted something of him, then the man could use the free will he still had and simply ask like any other person.

Harry could hear Hermione move into a conversation with the Ravenclaw perfect, both speaking animatedly and happily about the curriculum. Harry was sure Hermione had found her home with the rest of the brains. Looking over at the Hufflepuff table, yet still not close enough to hear, Harry watched as Neville talked with the girls Susan and Hannah about something which made them hug him once more. Harry's eye twitched.

Neville Longbottom was now his eternally rival for female affection, and Harry swore he would not lose. He swore it!

Draco looked to now be enjoying his dessert portion of the meal along with Nott, Parkinson, and another boy, this one with dark-skin and low cut dark hair. Harry watched as the dark-skinned boy not unlike Dean Thomas made Draco scoff at something before Draco looked over in his direction. Draco shot him a scathing look, but it failed when he and the dark-skinned boy across from him stuck their tongues out. Tongues that had turned white with vanilla ice cream.

Ron was still talking Quidditch, though this time with his brothers Percy and the twins. Harry smiled at the family display, and turned away so as not to interrupt it.

At last, the desserts too disappeared much to Harry's inner disappointment, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell immediately silent.

"Ahem, just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First Years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins. "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death."

Harry laughed, but he was one of the few who did. "That's crazy! I like this guy. But he can't be serious, right? I mean, we live in a school."

"He must be," Percy muttered after overhearing Harry's words with Ron. Harry and Ron looked to him, seeing his prominent frown. "It's rather odd, especially when he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere; the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least."

After this rather mysterious urging, Dumbledore smiled widely while he had everyone sing the school song, telling them to pick their own tune, before casting out the words magically for all to read from. Great as it was seeing magic of this scale, Harry felt a bit silly and rushed through the words in a fast-paced almost rappish-speed while thinking of a dear old friend.

Finally, they were allowed to leave and were sent off to bed. The Gryffindor First Years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Harry watched as Hermione and the Ravenclaws took off toward another while Neville and the Hufflepuff were directed down some steps and off into a corridor. Draco and the Slytherins were led down into what Harry could only assume was the bottom of the castle, the dungeons as Merlin had referred to it once.

Watching his new friends go, Harry felt his legs grow heavy with each step in the opposite direction of them as they were all taken their separate ways. And though he was sad by the separation so soon after meeting them all, Ron and his new housemates were good company and great companions as Harry was finding out. Ron and his brothers were even nice enough to catch Dean and Seamus once the two had fainted from the shock of seeing the portraits along the corridors whispering and pointing as they passed. While greatly surprised by this, Harry knew that an entire world of filled with this special brand of magic was going to be far more breathtaking than it simply was now.

Being guided through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries, Percy led the way as they climbed more staircases, most now so tired they were yawning and dragging their feet. Harry was just wondering how much farther they had to go when they came onto a portrait of a very fa— err, _stout_ woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she intoned in a velvety tone.

"Caput Draconis," Percy uttered, and with that the portrait swung forward to reveal a round well-carved hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it, Dean and Seamus being carried as they fell out once more upon seeing the woman's painting swing forth. Harry did the gentlemanly thing and helped Lavender and Parvati over the rise into the room. Turning from the giggling girls as he stood to help more ladies in like a proper and suave young man, Harry was in awe as he found himself in what could only be the Gryffindor common room. It was a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.

Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase, they were obviously in one of the towers, and they found their beds at last: four four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. As much as Harry wanted to pal around with his new roommates, Ron was too tired to talk much after they dropped Seamus and Dean into their assigned beds. So with that, Harry had no choice but to pull off his uniform, strip down to his adorable Moogle boxers, and fall into bed for sleep to whisk him away.

* * *

><p>The next day had Harry at a complete lost.<p>

Because he and Ron were completely lost…

"You sleep like a log, man…" Harry muttered as he and Ron wandered down yet another corridor.

"Sorry, mate. I think it was all that good food last night." Ron apologized, rubbing his stomach as he recalled the delicious meal.

"Yeah, that feast was mouthwatering…" Harry reasoned as they wandered onward.

To begin with, the two were lost after Harry tried for half an hour to wake Ron out of his beastly slumber. Their first class was Transfiguration with the stern witch McGonagall, but as much as Harry wanted to kick butt in the subject, he couldn't even arrive at class.

"Where are we again?" Harry asked Ron, who looked around.

"I think we're on the third floor." Ron said, not sure exactly.

"Then we just need to go down to the first floor." Harry declared, pointing to stairs as he saw them.

Even after arriving on the first floor, Harry had no clue where the Transfiguration class was held. But he reasoned that if they went to the Great Hall, where he hoped food would still be, then he'd be able to find someone there to help them.

All they found there was a barren hall and a strangely happy Professor Dumbledore.

"Ah, boys, good morning!" the old man greeted warmly, "You've just missed the last of the flumberry pancakes. But alas, I've some Sherbet Lemon Drops, if you'd like."

"No thanks," Harry and Ron echoed glumly, their faces full of gloom at the thought of having missed a meal. A free feast of breakfast…gone…

"Then would you mind if this old man inquired as to why you're not in class now?" Dumbledore tilted his head curiously, "If I'm not mistaken, you boys should be attending your Head of House, Professor McGonagall's First Year Transfiguration class at the moment."

"Yeah, but we got lost, sir." Ron said dejectedly, his head bowed, "It's all my fault…"

Headmaster Dumbledore laughed at them. He laughed so loud and suddenly that the two eleven year-olds jerked back from the sudden noise.

"Excuse me, lads. It's just that, in my elder age and long life here in the castle, I've forgotten what it's like to be lost within its more trot-worn halls. Please, follow me." and with that, the queerest person Harry had come to meet led the way for them as he continued to talk.

"That isn't to say that I don't still lose my way in here. Why, just the other night I was doing a bit of pacing up on the seventh floor, and just when I was thinking that I needed a good romance novel to rest my weary mind with, there appeared a door with far more of the books then I could ever hope to read it what's left of my lifetime." Dumbledore prattled on while Harry only half-listened. He got the feeling the old dude was just making things up so they looked a little less stupid.

Ron, however, listened avidly to the wizened wizard's every word.

"Do remind me that for next year, we hand out schedules and the like to students before the Prefects are to lead them down for breakfast and classes. Maybe we should put them in students' trunks… Hmm, yes, that's ticket…" the old professor muttered while he turned a corner.

"Ah! Here we are boys!" Dumbledore said gladly, arms wide as he presented the classroom, "And you're in luck. You're only fifteen minutes late! Well, off you trot. Don't want to be twenty minutes late. Oh no. I remember the dear professor gave even _me_ detention that time…" he walked away from them, still talking brightly with himself, "Oh yes! Dear Professor McGonagall said I was too long-winded and told too many tales of days passed. Which reminds me of yet another tale. This one's about a pet I had back when I was your age. You see, we named it Salty, which was ironic given its…"

Whatever that was about, Harry was glad Dumbledore had wondered out of earshot before he could hear anymore. Nevermind the fact that Harry could feel the man's magical power hidden deep within him due to their close proximity. It was almost at the level of Master Merlin's power and Master Yen Sid's own powers.

"But that doesn't stop the old guy from being just plain goofy…" Harry muttered, turning back to the classroom door while Ron strained to hear the rest of Dumbledore's tale from the corner. "Come on." Harry grabbed his friend by the back of his robes.

"But I wanted to hear more about Salty!" Harry hauled a whining Ron Weasley into the class.

* * *

><p>Transfiguration class was taught by Professor McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor House. It was a class to be shared by only their fellow First Year Gryffindors. As Harry and Ron entered the class, all was quiet while their fellow First years watched them burst into the room while shocked and surprised looks.<p>

"Hey, sorry we're late." Harry said as he and Ron moved further into the class in search of the teacher.

She was nowhere in sight. Only a tabby cat resting on her desk seemed interested in their arrival.

"Whoa, we must've just made it." Ron breathed easily, but Harry got the feeling they weren't so lucky. "I mean, could you have imagined the look on McGonagall's face if she'd caught us late for the first class of the first day of our first year?"

The tabby cat leapt from the desk, but before it landed on the floor it had transformed into the stern looking Transfigurations teacher. "Might it look something like this, Mister Weasley?" she said with a look of displeasure on her face.

"Me-_wow_…" Harry muttered as his eyes were wide with surprise.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Ron blurted out as he stood next to Harry with the same look of shock.

"Thank you for that assessment, Mister Weasley. Perhaps I should transfigure you or Mister Potter into a pocket watch, that way at least one of you would be able to tell time." came her reply.

"Sorry," Harry rubbed at the back of his neck, "we got lost. This place is pretty big."

"Perhaps a map then? I trust you won't require one to find a seat," McGonagall said as Ron moved, but Harry didn't.

"Now hold on, Professor. You have to admit that this happens more often than." Harry said boldly, to which the other students sucked in breath at his backtalk.

"Mister Potter, I never said it did not." she narrowed her eyes at him while her lips thinned.

"I didn't say you did. All I'm saying is to admit it." Harry spoke softly, appealing to the woman as one might for getting a loan of money.

"I am," McGonagall raised her head an inch, staring him down, "which is why I've not punished you yet. I do not expect First Year students to be able to navigate the hallowed halls of this esteemed castle on the first few days. In fact, I make especial care to see to it that by the first twenty minutes of class everyone is here. If not, I search them out myself. Now please, a seat, Mister Potter. We're wasting time."

"Alright then," Harry relented for the moment, taking the offered seat Ron patted down for him.

"Now then, with that out of the way, I'd like to again welcome you all to Hogwarts and this, your first class; Transfiguration. Transfiguration is some of the most complex and difficult magic you will learn here at Hogwarts. There will be no fooling around or goofing about in this class. Any student who does so will be asked not to come back." she allowed that to sink in before she stepped to the side of her desk and turned it into a pig and back again with a wave of her wand.

They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started! Amazed as they were, none were more so than Harry, who knew with all his training how difficult the simple-looking spell was to accomplish and master. Turning inanimate objects into living creatures was high level magic. Something no one could do without many years of honing and expertise.

He himself was a natural when it came to Transfiguration magic. Even still, his masters didn't want him attempting such high level stuff so casually until he had a few more years of expertise under his belt.

As excitement built in them, the others soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time, as Harry knew. After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and were instructed to begin their attempts at turning the matchsticks into needles.

Only one was successful.

Harry looked around to his fellow dormmates. He saw that he was the only one to succeed, having done the simple magic with a wave of his wand. Professor McGonagall was impressed, deeply so. She showed the class how his match had turned completely. How it had gotten all silver and pointy. The woman even went as far as to poke at her finger, where a droplet of blood oozed out. Even as she healed the tiny prick with a dap of some form of colorless liquid, McGonagall gave Harry a smile, and he knew they were rare indeed when the next second she was ordering everyone back to work.

She said that he'd have no homework. Harry, without being asked, turned around and about in his seat as he helped the other Gryffindors. First he helped Ron, who by the end of the lesson had finally managed to make the needle. Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas, by the end of the first lesson, had gotten the wood of the match to turn to metal. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, even with Harry's tutoring, only got the match to turn pointy with a somewhat silvery color. They seemed to be too distracted by his eyes or something like that, asking if his irises were emerald or jade in color. Harry couldn't answer that for them and felt uncomfortable that they asked while staring at him like a piece of meat. Still, Professor McGonagall gave the class five points for the Gryffindor house and a smile as they filed out of her class at the end of their first lesson.

The next class was out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, which was like plant-sitting in DiZ's garden. The teacher was a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, also the Head of the Hufflepuff house. She said they'd learn how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and find out what they were used for. She was a mostly hands-on teacher who didn't shrink away from getting her hands dirty with actual dirt. Lavender and Parvati near fainted when they found a worm in their pot of soil. Seamus and Dean were daring each other to eat it all throughout class. Harry and Ron ended up especially messy when they got into a dirt-fight toward the end of class. Professor Sprout, however, merely laughed them off before waving her wand to clean them. Then they were sent on their way to the next class.

Easily the most boring class was History of Magic, which was the only one taught by a ghost. Harry had always found ghosts to be especially cool. He thought there could never be a dull ghost, but Professor Binns had easily and quite effectively killed off that belief for Harry. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates, and got Emetic the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up.

Next was Charms with Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher. He was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight. Harry immediately worried for the little man and shot out of his seat to help him up. The tiny Professor waved him off with a squeaky sort of laughter and began the first lesson. Charms, Harry found out, was just as easy for him as Transfiguration had been. Professor Flitwick was easily excited and more than willing to go on all day about Harry's exceptional wandwork and Harry's kindness when the young wizard turned to help his classmates. More house points were rewarded to the Gryffindor dorm.

The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Professor Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke to the young wizards. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus Finnegan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather; for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went.

* * *

><p>Harry was more than a little annoyed to find that he wasn't miles ahead of the others. While he was quickly taking the title of most talented, even he didn't have much of a head start in subjects like Herbology, Astronomy, and Defense Against the Dark Arts because of how different the classes were compared to the way he was taught by his mentors. The plants were different and foreign, but Harry still knew stem from leaf. The stars were in the wrong places, but he could still identify some of the most common constellations. And Defense was just plain odd as they were taught from books instead of any sort of combat practice like Harry had hoped.<p>

Even still, it was a relief to many of the non-magical kids, the Muggle-born and Muggle-raised. Before they hadn't had any idea that they were witches and wizards, but here at Hogwarts there was so much to learn that even people like Ron and Draco, the ones raised all their lives in the magical community, didn't have much of an advantage over anyone. The only person who seemed to separate themselves from the pack was Harry himself, and even he just barely held an edge with Hermione and Draco not far behind.

Hermione was always in the library with her fellow Ravenclaw housemates. Draco was always in the dungeons with his Slytherin cronies. Harry and Ron were up in the Gryffindor dorms practicing and having laughs with the first years. Neville was making friends and being friendly with the other Hufflepuff. Over the course of the first week, they passed each and every one once in a while, sharing smiles as they went passed one another in corridors or when they entered and exited the library at random hours.

* * *

><p>Friday was an important day for Harry and Ron. They finally managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once.<p>

"We're awesome!" Harry and Ron high-fived each other as they entered the Great Hall. Draco scoffed behind them as Neville chuckled a little. Hermione was turning to them as they came into the hall.

"It took you a week!?" she exclaimed as they told her why they were so hyped. "Ravenclaws had it on the second day." again Draco scoffed.

"Only the rustic likes of you all need to _find_ your way. We of the higher breed need not find our way; we _instinctively_ know. Isn't that right, Longbottom?" Draco said with an arrogant and haughty tone as he turned to Neville, who colored at being addressed as Draco's equal in status.

"Umm, y-yeah… I guess so…" Neville was nervous and that much showed. Draco sneered at him before turning his nose up to even Neville since the boy was so much of a wimp. Harry clapped Neville on the shoulder with a good-natured laugh. Neville smiled shakily. He liked hanging out with Harry, who disarmed his nervous nature with his easy-going and earthly behavior.

"Don't worry about Drake, Norman." Harry smiled brightly as he wrapped an arm around Neville's shoulder, "He's just mad 'cause his daddy still hasn't smuggled him a broom into the school yet."

Draco shrugged casually, "Your right, I am mad about that little tidbit." the blond admitted freely before walking off toward the Slytherin table with his nose still high in the air.

"Now I see where he gets that from… So, Draco is a _wittle-bitty_ Momma's boy, huh?" Harry muttered under his breath as he recalled the way Draco's mother, Narcissa, had her own nose high like she was stiffing something foul. Though Draco managed to look less disgusted and more arrogant than his mother in that aspect.

"What have you all got today?" Hermione asked eagerly as she turned to them.

"Double Potions with the Slytherins," Ron answered in a groan as he read his schedule from a piece of parchment. "Snape's the Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favors them— we'll be able to see if it's true."

"I don't think it is," Hermione said with a shake of her head. Her bushy hair wobbled in place. "Neville and I had him earlier this week. He seemed equally nasty to all the students, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs."

"Its true…" Neville mumbled, his head now cast down in shame. "He gave most of us in Hufflepuff zero marks until the Ravenclaws started secretly helping us. Thanks again, Hermione."

"It was our pleasure, Neville." she smiled at him, then looked up at Harry and Ron, "Be sure not to say anything stupid. I don't think he has much a sense of humor."

"Gotcha. Roger that, Hilary!" Harry gave her a thumbs up and Hermione didn't even bother with his getting her name wrong before she went her own way to the Ravenclaw table where Padma immediately began questioning her about hanging out with Potter, Malfoy and Longbottom. The girl, while brainy and quick-witted, still shared gossip with her sister. Padma apparently thought the three boys were "dreamy" and wanted to know how Hermione had become such fast friends with them. Hermione could only tell her it was because Harry drew in people who could take the mental abuse his shenanigans entailed.

"She thinks the world of her brains just because she's in Ravenclaw." Ron frowned after Hermione, who kept looking back at them with Padma while giggling girlishly. "You and Neville are pretty smart, but at least you guys don't flaunt it the way she does."

Neville's face flushed at Ron thinking him smart, especially when he thought Ron was smarter and a better wizard.

"You're seeing stuff that isn't there. Just give her a chance." Harry said, decking Ron lightly in the arm. "Now come on, breakfast is on, and I needs food!"

"See ya, Nermal!" Harry shouted behind him, and Ron too gave his departing words to Neville as they parted ways, the two going to Gryffindor where their fellow housemates made sure to give them wide berth as they scarfed down tons of edibles. Neville went to the Hufflepuff table, where Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones hugged Neville for making more friends, especially those outside of Hufflepuff.

"He's still getting on with the babes!?" Harry's shock and rage was muffled by the food that stuff his cheeks. He would have choked if he didn't value food over his annoyed mood. Again Neville was escalated up his list of rivals.

He'd win this war! The hearts of women everywhere was on the line!

Just then, the mail arrived. Harry had gotten used to this by now, but it had given him a bit of a shock on the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps.

"Oye! Watch the food this time, you little rats with wings!" Harry bellowed while shaking a fist at the owls. One purposely dropped a parcel into the porridge that Ron was reaching for. Ron bemoaned the loss of perfectly good food.

Hedwig hadn't brought Harry anything so far. She sometimes flew in to nibble his ear and have a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the other school owls. This morning, however, she fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and dropped a note onto Harry's plate. Harry groaned at her doing so, but she merely fluttered her wings and stole his toast.

"No fair…" he whined as he took the note from out of his sausage and eggs. He tore it open at once.

It said, in a very untidy scrawl:

_**Dear Harry, **_

_**I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? **_

_**I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig. **_

_**Hagrid**_

Harry beamed, before snatching a quill from Lavender to quickly scribble his reply. Giving the quill back to her with a flirty wink that made the girl blush, Harry sent Hedwig off again with the note now saying: "_**Yes, please. See you later**_," on the back.

"Ron, time to plot my revenge. My ponderings are afoot." Harry said with a wicked grin.

"Hmm?" Ron looked up questioningly from where he was shoveling bacon onto his plate with a slice sticking out from his mouth.

* * *

><p>Even before the start-of-term banquet, Harry had gotten the idea that Snape disliked him. It wasn't hard to see when the man basically sneered and sulked about everything, especially how he was effectively Harry's slave as long as that Heart's Mark was branded to him.<p>

Lessons for the Potions class took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder there than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls of the class.

Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name.

"Ah, Yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new — _celebrity_."

"Hear that, guys. I'm already really awesome and famous at school," Harry whispered to Draco, who sat directly in front of him and Ron, who sat directly beside him. Draco and his goons, Crabbe and Goyle, sniggered behind their hands at Harry's boyish candor. Snape merely scowled as he finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's own, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. No, Snape's eyes were cold and empty, like dark tunnels from which no warmth escaped.

"You children are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," Snape began, speaking in what was barely more than a whisper. That was no problem as the class caught every word in their hushed silence. Much like Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort.

"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses…" here Snape came from behind the podium he was standing at and made his way in front of it. His dark robes flared out briefly when he came to a stop, making Harry think of vampires and other horror movies he had seen with Leon and the rest of their gang. "I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper on death… That is, if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

More silence followed this little speech. Harry and Ron exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Harry had been at the edge of his seat from how spellbinding Snape's words had been. At least until the end, where Harry's face fell at the unimpressive closing of said speech.

"A great speech ruined by a man's inability to stop being snarky…" Harry said flatly, shaking his head in disapproval.

"Potter!" Snape suddenly snapped his attention to Harry when his ears caught the young Potter's words. However, unlike Draco and Ron, Snape was not amused. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

"I'm sorry, powdered root of what to an infusion of what?" Harry asked before he glanced at Ron, who looked as stumped as he was.

"Powdered root of _asphodel_ to an infusion of _wormwood_?" Snape snarled, "And take care, Potter, because I shall not repeat myself again within this classroom."

"Oh, okay." Harry kicked back and placed his feet up on the desk, "Well, with that mixture, you'd get a sleeping potion."

"Name, Potter. What is the potion's _name_!" Snape's face contorted in barely restrained annoyance.

"Hmm… what was it's name? Umm… I think it was called the Draught of something. Not sure." Harry shrugged, but then it clicked it him. "Wait, I remembered now! Master Yen Sid drilled me with this one! It's Draught of Living Death when wormwood and asphodel is on the breath."

Snape did not looked to be impressed. "A cute rhyme, as I am sure, Potter." Snape's lips curled into a sneer. "Now then, shall we see if fame is everything? Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

"A goat's stomach!" Harry stood up and pointed a finger into the dank air of the dungeon classroom. The only light in the class came from the single high up window that was so dust-covered that it might as well have been cloaked with a sheet. "I needed to get one for a friend back in Agrabah. Those desert scorpions are really nasty."

Snape crossed his arms, leaning back on the podium behind him while narrowing his dark eyes on Harry. "And what is the function of a bezoar, Potter?"

"Well, if swallowed it can save a dude from a bunch of the more common poisons and a few of the really bad ones."

"Glad that you at least decided to crack open your textbook in the last ten years." Snape sneered while Harry chuckled. Really, he found Snape more amusing that threatening.

"Come on, Sev, you can't honestly expect me or my classmates to remember everything out of _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_, can you?" Harry rubbed the back of his neck with a candid smile.

"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?" Snape arched a single brow delicately, but the rest of his face was drawn in a mask of indifference.

"Objection!" Harry startled his classmates by slamming a fist to the table. "That's a trick question! They're the same thing! Just different parts of the same plant that can go by either name!"

A few people laughed at Harry's courtroom antics. Seamus and Dean were in stitches as Seamus banged a text to the table like a gavel. Snape, however, was not pleased.

"Be silent!" he spoke at a level tone, but it was like a roar to them in comparison to how quiet and somber he was moments beforehand. They had never heard Snape's voice raise so mightily, and it served to settle them all. "Clearly your fame has gone to your head, Potter, as you have forgotten that the plant also goes by the name of aconite. Do not attempt to play chess with the masters if you've only just risen from the rank of novice." then Snape's dark eyes flitted around the class, taking in everyone's faces. "Well? Why aren't you all copying that down? Not a moment is wasted in this class, and everything said is of grave importance. Or must I constantly hold your hands for every little thing over the next seven years?"

There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And twenty points will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek and flash… Mister Potter."

Harry was still unperturbed as he waved merrily, "Thanks, Sev!"

"Another forty, Potter!"

* * *

><p>Harry found that the lesson only marginally improved for his class as it continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion which would cure boils. He swept around in his long black robes, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Draco, whom he seemed to like. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon.<p>

"Tut, tut, Sev," Harry said with a shake of his head when Snape had passed up Draco to tear into Lavender and Dean, "You could at least be subtle about your blatant favoritism."

"I'll handle my class the way I see fit, Potter. And that will be another twenty points from your house." Seamus was cracking up over the points lost, but Parvati was kicking Harry under the table for each point taken. Ron, working with Seamus, was accidentally kicked once and had ruined the first drafts of their horned slugs.

"Watch what you're doing, dude!" Harry exclaimed, all traces of boyish attitude gone once he saw Seamus and Ron's work turning to hell in a hand basket. Trying to hurry along in order to catch up to the others, Seamus thought it was prudent to simply throw all the ingredient into the cauldron and stir.

Honestly, Harry should have expected such. Seamus, despite his mother being a witch, probably knew next to nothing about the work that went into potions. Harry had spent the last few years working with potions under the careful eagle-eyed watch of his masters. Even DiZ and Merlin, both who were known for a much more lax environment of teaching, were on constant vigilance when it came to potions. When Harry was six, all three masters had spent a long time drilling into him that potion making took exact measurements, precise ingredients, and accurate follow through. The first year of work was teaching Harry the proper methods of how to handle the situation if things went work. It was one of the only times that Harry learned actual spells and charms from his masters instead of just "the feel of magic" and "the flow of energies". No, when it came to things that could leave him without a face, even Master Merlin threw the lessons about the texture and saturation of magical energy out the window in order to show Harry the proper spell for if a potion turns out to be blue and burning polka-dotted smoke.

So it was of little surprise that Harry leapt back and away when Seamus's cauldron had melted into a twisted blob, and his stew of a potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in their classmates' shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Seamus and Ron, who had been drenched by the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.

Harry completely forgot about his wand when he thrust out a hand at bubbling mass of liquid on the floor. With the twisted motion of his wrist and hand, the potion followed as it twisted and hissed, but then twirled in a spiraling pattern while Harry made it disappear from the floor and into thin air. Then he set his attention to the cauldron, but his focus was broken. Snape had finally got around to their side of the scene.

"Idiot boy!" the Potions Master snarled, clearing the spilled potion that remained in the pot away with a single wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills _before_ taking the cauldron off the fire?"

Seamus was a whimpering mess as the boils started to pop up all over his nose. Harry went back to fixing the cauldron and cleaning up any other spills that might have escaped their notice.

"Take them up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Dean and Lavender before he rounded on Harry and Parvati, who had been working next to Seamus and Ron.

"And you, boy, why didn't you tell him not to just dump everything into the cauldron? This isn't fruit punch, it is _dangerous_! Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you?"

"No! We're eleven, man! What did you expect from a room full of kids with no comprehension of how bad potions can get!? It was an impatient accident! _They tend to happen_!" Harry argued back, but then he and Snape turned to the scoffing Draco.

"Please, Potter, don't lump all of us with the likes of you half-witted Gryffindors. Some of us happen to know that rules and instructions are to be followed for a reason."

"Oh shut up, Draco!" Harry spat back at the blond before he and Snape resumed their glaring match.

"I should have expect no less from a Potter!" Snape's sneer was laced with absolute venom. "Another twenty points from Gryffindor. And rest assured that the next time you and your merry band of the little Marauders wish to have a laugh in my classroom, I'll not be allowing them to the hospital wing or a return back into this classroom. _EVER_!"

"That's not fair, sir. Harry didn't know what Seamus would do!" Parvati exclaimed in Harry's defense, but Snape was hearing none of it.

As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Harry's mind was racing and his spirits were low. It had all started out so well. Sure Snape had been discourteous at first, but when they began the practical half of class, it appeared like Snape was actually beginning to warm up to Harry. But then whole fiasco with Seamus and Ron looked to have left Snape disappointed in Harry. And it might have been Harry's imagination, but it was like Snape was more disappointed in something else than in Harry himself.

Also, what the hell was with Snape calling his friends the little Marauders?

"Cheer up," Ron was now back from the hospital wing and boil-free, "Snape's always taking points off Fred and George. Can I come and meet Hagrid with you?"

* * *

><p>At five to three o'clock, Harry led the way out of the castle with Ron and Neville behind him. Hermione was whisked away by her fellow Ravenclaws to a study group, and Draco had already made the mistake of insulting Hagrid previously that evening, so Harry took back his invite to the blond. That didn't sit well with the Malfoy heir, but Harry didn't care. If Draco couldn't control himself, he'd be treated like a spoiled child under Master Yen Sid's care. Meaning that if Draco acted up, he'd be grounded to his room in the Slytherin dorms.<p>

"Harry, mate, you've got to teach me that locking charm!" Ron looked ecstatic, like Christmas had come early this year for him.

They made their way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door.

"Draco looked really cross with you, Harry," Neville had never seen fury the likes of which the Malfoy scion produced, "Are you sure it was okay for us to stuff him in his room like that? He's gonna come after us when his housemates let him out."

"Yeah," Harry shrugged, "but that's only if they can undo it. It'll take a few hours for them to work it out, and by then we should all be in the clear." Harry knocked on the thick wood door. They heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks. Then Hagrid's voice rang out, saying, "_Back_, Fang! _Back_."

"And it begins," Harry smirked, throwing his cloak over himself in swish of the material.

Hagrid's big, hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open.

"Hang on," he said, "_Back_, Fang."

He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound. Then, looking to his guests, Hagrid's face quickly drained of color and he fainted with a cry for his mommy. Neville and Ron didn't look much better, but were calmed when Harry took off his cloak and began laughing as he pointed down at the fainted half-giant.

"That's for abandoning me with no idea of how to get onto the train!" Harry shouted down at Hagrid, stepping up on the man's chest like a conqueror, "Don't mess with the best!"

When Hagrid awoke and Harry explained his prank of using his cloak to give himself the image he had transformed into, Hagrid sat heavily in his chair. While Hagrid rubbed his temples and calmed his nerves, Fang was busy trying to lick Ron and Neville's ears clean off. When the hound approached him, the three other males of the room were amazed with how quickly Harry had Fang belly up and enjoying a good scratch behind the ears.

Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked.

"This is Robert and Noah," Harry told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate.

"Ronald and Neville, Harry," Neville corrected, but then Ron scowled and crossed his arms.

"Just call me Ron, Neville," Ron said tightly, as though he hated his full first name.

"Another Weasley, eh?" Hagrid spoke as he glanced at Ron's freckles, "I spent half me life chasin' yer brothers away from the forest. Whole pack of 'em love danger. Hope yer different."

Aside from Harry's gruesome transformation prank, the rest of their visit was very pleasant. Hagrid served tea and rock cakes as they passed the time talking about how classes were going, bad-mouthed the Caretaker, Filch and his cat Mrs. Norris. Harry mentioned the Potions lesson they'd just left, and Neville seemed to ease out of his shell in order to ask Hagrid a few questions about what to expect out of Hogwarts in general. Ron asked questions about what his brothers had been like during their years in the school. Then Harry found the newspaper article about a break-in at Gringotts. It had happened on his birthday, the very day he, Hagrid, and Master Merlin went into the bank.

After that point, the conversation quickly soured, as Harry would bet the charm bracelet he never took off that Hagrid was clearly hiding something, but he had little evidence as to what. Finally, the trio of boys left as it was time to go to dinner and they still had to wash up and everything.

"POTTER! WHERE THE DEVIL ARE YOU?! POTTER!" Harry gulped as he made a bee line for the Gryffindor tower in order to escape the wraith of one very upset Draco Malfoy.

In his run, Harry sighed in disappointment. It looked like he'd be missing another feast of a meal the castle had to offer. How sad…

"POTTER! I SEE YOU THERE! DON'T RUN FROM ME, YOU COWARD! TAKE YOUR HEXES LIKE A MAN! POTTER, GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT! I WILL NOT BE DENIED MY PROPER RETRIBUTION! POTTER!"

Yes, quite sad indeed…

"You'll never take me alive, Derrick!"

But also quite fun…


End file.
